What it Takes
by Iced Blood
Summary: Now complete as of its 30th chapter. Naruto and his teammates, and his mentors, find themselves faced with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and they take it. But time is a fickle thing, and even a ninja can't just jump inside the river of history and change its course. Not without getting swept up in it. Uzumaki Naruto is about to learn that.
1. A Simple Exercise

**What it Takes**

**Iced Blood**

_When Jiraiya decides to test out a new jutsu he learned from a traveling merchant, it lands Naruto and his team in a situation that will change his life, and his perception on just what it means to be a ninja, forever._**  
**

**

* * *

**

* * *

When they regained their composure, Uchiha Sasuke was the first to speak. "I might have expected this from a sensei of _Naruto's. _Nothing happened." 

"Keep your comments to yourself, brat," Jiraiya snarled indignantly. "Just because you've got those sharingan eyes doesn't mean you can insult me."

Sasuke, ever the conversationalist, said nothing in response, simply setting himself upon a fallen tree and sighing. Haruno Sakura, Sasuke's ever-present pink-haired confidante (although according to _him _the word "annoyance" would have been better), sat down beside him almost instantly.

"Sasuke-kun, are you okay?" she asked worriedly. "Are you hurt?"

"Of course not," Sasuke snapped back.

The white-haired hermit grunted and rolled his eyes. He was beginning to understand his hotheaded student's nearly religious disdain of the last remaining Uchiha (Itachi didn't count; missing-nins had no names). The pretentious little punk _was _pretty damn annoying.

The bored, annoyed, stone-faced youth was looking around himself with an expression that was uncomfortably familiar to Jiraiya, who instantly looked away.

_You're too much like Orochimaru for your own good, kid...pretty soon you'll grow a forked tongue._

"Oi!" came a grating, squawking voice from behind him. "Ero-sennin! What's this jutsu s'posed to do! I don't feel no different!"

"_Don't _call me 'ero-sennin...'" Jiraiya muttered under his breath. "Now..." he began in a louder, sagely (in his own mind) tone, "the purpose of this jutsu, a _very _complicated jutsu which only the _greatest _of shinobi could accomplish, I might add, is to--"

"Jiraiya-sama."

Jiraiya stopped mid-lecture, finger still up in the air to accentuate his words, to regard the stoic, masked jounin leaning back against a tree trunk, an extremely familiar book held easily in one glove-clad hand. "Huh?"

Hatake Kakashi glanced up, his single visible eye meeting Jiraiya's own. "They _are_ our students, are they not?" he asked.

"Yes..." Jiraiya replied, wondering where this was going.

"Then...why not let _them _figure it out?"

"Like it or not, the Uchiha has a point...we don't even know if it _worked_. I can't be entirely certain, after all."

Kakashi shrugged, slipping his book into the pouch at his belt. "If it didn't...then they won't find anything. But if it did...they should be able to tell."

Jiraiya contemplated the younger ninja's suggestion, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. The idea _did _have merit...after all, what better way to test a young genin's observation skills than to place him (or her) in a situation where there may or may _not _be anything to observe?

"Hmmm...all right, Kakashi! Good idea! _That's _your training for the day! Amongst the three of you, decide just what it was that my jutsu did. If you can figure that out, or prove _to my satisfaction _that nothing has changed, then you pass. If you _cannot _do this...well, you'll find that out later."

Jiraiya glared pointedly at Sasuke when he said this.

The young sharingan user was unperturbed. He glared right back. "I don't think so," he said. "I don't intend to fail."

"It's all well and good to say that, Sasuke-_kun_," the frog hermit snapped, placing sarcastic emphasis on the honorific, "but the important part is to _back up _your big words. So how about you three get to work and come up with an answer before you start gloating, huh?"

"Yosh!" Uzumaki Naruto cried excitedly. "No sweat, ero-sennin!"

"_Stop _calling me that!" Jiraiya growled, whirling on his heel. "That's _Jiraiya-sama _to you, brat, not _ero-sennin! _Don't call me _ero-sennin!"_

"Then stop _being _one!" Naruto shot back, crossing his arms.

Jiraiya's white-hot glare was met equally by his young charge, and eventually the legendary leaf-nin-turned-novelist averted his eyes and snorted. "Just get to work, Naruto. You only have until sundown to give us an answer."

"You too, Sasuke, Sakura," Kakashi said. "Get moving."

Without complaint (although Sasuke rolled his eyes again), the other two genin of Team Kakashi left the clearing to follow their hyperactive, unthinking, far-too-chipper-for-this-hour-of-the-morning teammate.

* * *

The two older ninja remained in the clearing, Kakashi staying where he was (his book back in his hand) and Jiraiya sitting down in the same spot which Sasuke had occupied moments earlier. 

Jiraiya sighed. "Well...I wonder how long it will take them to figure this out."

"If it _worked,_" Kakashi murmured, "Sasuke will know before long. Sakura, too. Naruto might not understand at first, but...all in all, if it worked, they'll know. What will take them a long time is finding proof that nothing happened if, in fact, it _didn't."_

"Tch..." Jiraiya snorted. "It worked. I felt it."

"You said you got the scroll from a wandering peddler a month ago, Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi reminded. "We cannot be sure that the effects are what she said they were..."

"Mm..." Jiraiya grunted. "That's why I'm not sure. But...for how much I _paid _for the thing, it'd _better _have worked as advertised. I intend to soak in a _lot _of nostalgia here."

"I'm still not certain this was a good idea..." Kakashi muttered.

"Oh, you wouldn't, you stick in the mud," Jiraiya complained, waving off the jounin's concern. "Honestly, with the Fourth as your teacher, one would have thought _some _of his adventurous nature would have washed off on you. Who could pass up an opportunity like _this? _Think of the possibilities!"

"I am..." Kakashi replied softly. "And that...is precisely why I don't like this situation. I cannot see it ending well. I apologize, Jiraiya-sama, but I find myself hoping that your attempt failed, or that the jutsu was a fraud."

Jiraiya sighed and shook his head. "Sheesh...well, we'll just see, then, won't we, kid?"

Kakashi twitched at being called such a name, but he said nothing.

"You know...in order to avoid unnecessary confusion, you may want to pick up an alias...you know, just in case we happen to...run into someone."

_That _particular idea, which Kakashi understood immediately, obviously hadn't passed the silver-haired ninja's mind, because his eye widened and he lowered his book. Jiraiya grinned, looking so much like his student that it was eerie, but Kakashi didn't see it.

His mind was occupied...now he was thinking of _other _possibilities than the ones he had been concerned about. He was thinking about precisely the same things that Jiraiya had thought about when he'd bought the scroll.

"...I..." Kakashi choked out.

"See...? Aren't you glad I brought you along? It was difficult to do it; myself and three genin wasn't all that hard...although Naruto caused a bit of a headache. You, though...you took a lot of extra energy. But I thought you would...appreciate the...scenery."

"J-Jiraiya-sama..." Kakashi turned his head.

"Hm?"

"This...this jutsu is..."

"Amazing? Incredible? Wondrous? The greatest thing you've ever laid your eye on?"

"...Dangerous."

"Eh?" Jiraiya's eyebrows rose. "Dangerous? Well, _sure_, if the wrong people _learn _it, but...well, that woman said she only sold that jutsu to people she deemed responsible...and I believe her. She had a...knowing way about her."

"Yes...and she gave it to _you." _This comment was pointedly ignored. "...While the potential of this jutsu _is _rather intriguing," (Jiraiya was pleased to note the Copy Ninja's change of opinion) "there is one particular person I am...concerned about."

"Concerned about? Who? Naruto?"

"Oddly enough...no. I'm concerned about...Sasuke."

The implications seemed to hit Jiraiya just then, as the frog hermit raised his eyes to regard the sky, something he always did when deep in thought. He frowned.

"Hmmm...I hadn't really thought about _him_...well, I guess we'll just have to keep an eye on him, won't we?"

Kakashi nodded, placing his book back into its pouch. "I suppose we should leave, then."

Jiraiya nodded.

* * *

It was a sad fact in Konohagakure that, while the members of Kakashi's genin team had possibly the greatest _potential _of all of their peers, their teamwork (or lack thereof) made them the least accomplished squad to have come along in centuries. 

So it was no surprise that an argument broke out not four minutes into their training exercise.

"This is stupid! Nothing's _different! _Ero-sennin didn't do _anything!"_

"We can't _know _that yet, Naruto," Sakura said with a disgusted look on her face. "We haven't _looked _at anything!"

"Sure we have!" Naruto waved his hand impatiently at the village before them. "You see anything?"

"...Dobe," Sasuke muttered. "of _course _we aren't going to notice anything _this far from the village. _You're just as much an idiot as your teacher."

"_What _was that, you jerk!? I oughtta--"

"Boys!" Sakura cried. "Stop this!"

"_Shut up!" _both shinobi snapped at their pink-haired teammate before going for each other's throats.

...Naruto had forgotten (and Sasuke hadn't known) that Sakura had been receiving personal training from Tsunade, the kunoichi of the Legendary Sannin and arguably the strongest (physically) of all the ninja of the Hidden Leaf.

And even if you were Sasuke, you just _didn't get away with _telling a student of Tsunade to shut up.

Nursing bruised noses, Naruto and Sasuke sulked as they shuffled next to a sauntering Sakura into the village.

_I can't believe she _hit _me, _Sasuke thought.

Of course, she would apologize profusely and heal his "injuries" in about 7.6 seconds, but still...she had hit him! And it had _hurt!_

_Stupid Tsunade-baachan taught Sakura-chan her chakra-hand trick...crap! _Naruto thought with a glare.

Yes...Tsunade had molded his precious Sakura-chan into a **D.A.N.G.E.R.O.U.S. Person**...in other words, _Deadly, Angry, Narrow-eyed, Grumpy, Evil, Rabid, Overbearing, Unusually-psycho, _and _Sadistic. _Just _great! _Before _that _old witch had become Hokage, Sakura-chan had been a _lot _nicer (not really; just weaker)!

Naruto grumbled curses as he placed Sakura's name on The List, right under Tsunade's. Sure, they were the only two names _on _that list...but the fact that there was even a _second _one was frightening enough.

"What's that paper, Naruto?" Sakura asked, deceptively sweet.

"Uh...n-n-nothing, Sakura-chan! Nothing at all!"

"Hmmm..."

Naruto was silent as Sakura started talking to Sasuke about the new healing jutsu she had just perfected.

...Oh. Sorry. _28_ seconds. Must have been having an off day.

Naruto wasn't surprised at all that she didn't bother to heal _him_. But then, his own bruises were gone already, anyway...would have been nice if she had offered, though.

Fat chance of _that_. The day Sakura ever thought to heal _him _would be the day that Sasuke danced the can-can with Gaara and Shino!

Sasuke and Sakura had no idea why Naruto suddenly howled with laughter; they just ignored it, like they always did. And when he suddenly started kicking his legs up and pointing at the black-haired, black-eyed boy before actually falling down and curling up in a fetal position, Sakura just started kicking him.

After two minutes of this with no change in Naruto's behavior, Sasuke grabbed the blonde by the collar of his orange jacket and dragged him the rest of the way to the village, muttering to himself about how Naruto was a waste of plasma and that he was starting to understand _why _Orochimaru had become a missing-nin (Jiraiya probably hadn't been any better, and _might _have been worse..._might_), and once or twice voiced his regret at having come back to Konoha.

He didn't bother telling Sakura to quit kicking.

* * *

_This was a random idea that struck me a while ago and it grew into a full-fledged story after discussing it with a friend of mine. This won't be all fun and games, and I'm certain I'll have quite a few angsty scenes here and there, but I think a lot of this story will be lighthearted. _

_This is my first time writing Team Kakashi, since my first Naruto fic was about Zabuza and Haku and my second one has Gaara and Hinata as Naruto's teammates instead of Sakura and Sasuke, but I think I did a halfway decent job with them. If I haven't...well, this story will give me practice._


	2. Speculation

Naruto was still grumbling about how stupid this exercise was because _he _wanted to learn a new jutsu, but that was something Sasuke and Sakura had gotten used to. 

He was thickheaded to a fault, and didn't understand (or _want _to understand) the need for subtler training exercises such as the one they were currently taking part in.

If he could beat anyone he came across, who _cared _if he was subtle?

It was a headache, really.

Sakura noticed things that the others likely didn't; subtle (again) things...small things. Insignificant little things about the landscape, the placement of objects, the people walking about the village doing their daily business.

Sasuke didn't see everything that Sakura did, but he noticed buildings were different, that plants and other such things were arranged differently, that the people he passed weren't immediately recognizable.

Naruto didn't find anything amiss (because he hadn't been _looking_, he'd been complaining) until they passed his favorite restaurant, Ichiraku Ramen.

"What the holy...?"

* * *

"Did you see anything interesting, Kakashi?" Jiraiya posed as he set up a fire to cook the fish he had just caught. 

"Somewhat," Kakashi murmured. "Nothing substantial yet, but...it's clear the jutsu did as the old woman said it did. There's hardly a doubt in my mind anymore."

Jiraiya grinned. "_Gooood..._I can't wait to start looking around. Who _knows _who I might find...maybe the star of my next book...? Heh...I haven't been writing for a while..."

Kakashi, as much as he enjoyed the hermit's books, still rolled his eye at the old man's single-mindedness. "Is that _all _you think about, Jiraiya-sama?"

"Not _all_, no...I'm hoping to meet someone in particular, but I don't know if I'll run into him for a while. For now, I figure I'll just spend my time researching. At least until the brats come back with their answer. I figure, before we do anything, we should explain it to them so they know exactly what's going on here."

"Are you certain it was a good idea to send them to the village alone? They may do something to--"

"Oh, knock it off, would you?" Jiraiya said. "You worry too much. Stupid as he seems, that kid's got a decent head on his shoulders when he decides to use it. And the other two'll likely catch on quick enough and keep him from getting into too much trouble."

"Somehow I'm doubting that..." Kakashi muttered.

"You know, you don't _always _have to express your opinion."

"Mm-hm. Still doubting."

"...Seems you learned _something _from your old commander...you both don't know when to shut up."

"Both Yondaime-sensei and I simply know a certain truth about you. If we don't constantly express our opinions, your mind will lose track of it. A fleeting glance of swaying hips, a flash of cleavage, the slightest hint of a feminine figure, causes all other thought to flee your head like the steam you so often use for cover at the bathhouses..."

"How poetic."

"Sensei's words. He was rather proud when he came up with it, as I recall."

"Uh-huh. Anyway, stop your worrying. This will be fun. Now help me set this stupid thing up. You have to be careful when cooking fish or it'll end up--"

Kakashi's hands flew in a series of seals and a wave of flame shot over the fish, causing Jiraiya to jump and drop the stick he had been holding. Glaring at the masked jounin, the hermit huffed and looked at his ruined meal.

...They were cooked perfectly.

"Cocky little son of a..." Jiraiya muttered under his breath.

Kakashi cracked open his book again (how many times had he _read _them, Jiraiya wondered) and remained completely silent while Jiraiya went on a tirade about not getting the respect he deserved and how _no one _ever listened to him anymore.

"He and Naruto were made for each other..." Kakashi muttered under his breath.

"_What _was that!"

A sigh. "Nothing, Jiraiya-sama. Nothing at all. Anyway, they won't be back until sundown, will they?"

"Somehow, I'm doubting that," Jiraiya said, echoing the jounin's earlier words. "Naruto will probably be too impatient to stay in the village 'til then. He'll come up with something and run back here. We'll tell him what _really _happened then."

He ripped a fish off of the stick and chewed thoughtfully. "Hmmm...how close will he get, I wonder? Sasuke probably has the best chance of guessing, really."

"I'd venture to think he's the _only _one with a chance of guessing," Kakashi said. "Naruto will think too lightly, Sakura too deeply. Sasuke, though...well..."

Jiraiya nodded.

Yes...it was likely true.

* * *

Before any of the three genin had a chance to comment on the condition of the popular restaurant, a loud, snapping voice caused them to flinch. They turned around slowly at the, "Hey, you!" directed at them, cautious looks on their faces. 

A black-haired man, tall and dressed in an unfamiliar uniform, glared at them. "You!" he snarled, pointing to Sasuke. "What is your name?"

"...Sasuke."

The man glared at him intensely, arms crossed and clearly insulted by something. His black eyes narrowed. "...That shirt you're wearing...Sasuke."

"What about it?" Sasuke snapped.

"Only an Uchiha may wear that insignia! You're a genin, by the look of you, and that means you should know this! Who exactly do you think you are?"

Sasuke continued to glare right back at the man yelling at him, indignant rage flaring in his eyes. "...I don't know what your problem is," he said, "but I _am _an Uchiha. So back off."

"...You think highly of yourself to lie so blatantly to me, boy. I'll let you off with a warning _this _time, but if I see you with that symbol anywhere on your body again, I won't be so lenient."

"...Idiot," Sasuke muttered, and turned his back.

The kunai embedded itself into the back of his shoulder, felling him in an instant. The pain that shot down Sasuke's arm made him bite his tongue, and he ripped the instrument out with a slight cry.

"Next time...show some respect."

The man left.

Naruto, looking from the retreating man to Sasuke then back again, gaped in disbelief. "What the...? This is weird!"

"He...didn't know me," Sasuke murmured softly, grunting as he stood up. "And...the kunai he threw at me...I couldn't even sense it."

Sakura reached into the pouch at her belt for supplies and set to healing her teammate's wound. "I think this is a village-wide genjutsu. Nobody's recognized us so far...and everything is a little different, it seems. But what would be the purpose of such a jutsu? Did he use it _just _to test us? To confuse us?"

"Sounds just like something ero-sennin would do," Naruto muttered. "He's probably off spying at the bathhouse, and it'll make it easier to do that if nobody recognizes him."

"Yeah," Sakura said, nodding. "Jiraiya-sama _would _do something like that...he probably made up this exercise to get rid of us, so he can go on one of his 'research' sessions."

"Research sessions?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

Oh, yeah...Sasuke didn't know Jiraiya.

"He writes those dirty books Kakashi-sensei reads all the time," Naruto said. "Those _Icha Icha _things. He says he needs plenty of _inspiration _and _research _to write good stuff...all that means is he looks at girls when they're taking a bath or swimming or something."

"Jiraiya-sama is a world-class pervert," Sakura said.

"Tch..." Sasuke rolled his eyes again. "Figures. And let me guess, Naruto...he liked your sex-change jutsu."

"That's _not _what it's called, Sasuke!"

"Whatever."

"But, uh...yeah. Sure did. Called me a genius. Kept asking me to do it over and over again. Said it made his heart set on fire or something stupid like that..."

"Did he..._touch _you?" Sakura asked, not necessarily out of any concern for the blonde's dignity, but for the sole purpose of seeing if the white-haired man was really as creepy as she thought.

"Uh...no." Then Naruto grinned. "Why, Sakura-chan? Feeling _possessive?"_

Bad idea.

It took Naruto several minutes to fully extract himself from the fence. By that time, the angry bruise on his face had healed.

"...How's that, Sasuke-kun?"

"It's...fine. Thanks."

Naruto grumbled as he wiped off his pants and took chunks of wood out of his hair. "I ain't paying for that, Sakura-chan. _You _explain to the guy why you broke his fence."

Sakura ignored him.

Surprise, surprise.

"So it's some weird ero-sennin trick to peek at girls?" Naruto muttered. "Yeah...gotta be."

"And it caused everyone not to know us. That guy didn't even recognize Sasuke-kun! The nerve, saying he wasn't an Uchiha! And I'm betting nobody will recognize _us_, either. Even if I went home, my parents would probably think I'm a stranger."

"Yeah. Since _nobody's _said hello to us. Much as I don't wanna admit it, lots 'a girls would be waving at Sasuke if they remembered who he was..."

"And all the different aspects of the village, like the paint on the buildings and the trees and stuff...probably just to try confusing us. Throw us off our guard. Jiraiya-sama likes to do that."

"Mm-hm," Naruto said, nodding. "Ero-sennin does lots of stuff you don't expect. Really annoying, too."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other, but decided not to say anything.

It was too much of a headache.

"I mean, look at what he did to Ichiraku!" Naruto crowed with a scowl. Stupid ero-sennin! He did this just to piss me off!"

Sasuke stood up. "I...think I've seen enough. Let's go back."

"Yeah, it's pretty clear what he's done," Sakura said. "And I want to go home and take a bath, anyway, so the sooner he reverses it, the better."

Naruto scowled. "...Yeah. Stupid genjutsu. What's the point if we got it already?"

"_I _got it, Naruto, _you _didn't get _anything_," Sakura said.

"Tch. Whatever. Let's just go back and tell ero-sennin."

"...No."

"Huh?" Naruto and Sakura both looked at Sasuke, who was looking around. His black eyes were somber, cold.

"No _what_?" Naruto asked.

"...It's not that simple."

"What do you mean, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura posed.

"...This isn't some ordinary jutsu...it's not as simple as you think. I...I can feel it. This is...too different. And...that man...he..."

"He what?"

"He was..."

"Huh?"

Sasuke looked up. "...Never mind. Let's go. Quickly."

Sakura and Naruto followed their teammate and self-proclaimed leader, having to sprint to keep up with him.

Whatever he had discovered, it had him worried.

And it wasn't as simple as someone not recognizing him because of a genjutsu.

Now that he had said that...Naruto and Sakura could feel it too.

There was something..._off _about the jutsu.

Something far more complicated.

* * *

_Once the jutsu is revealed (probably at the end of the next chapter), things will start getting interesting. This is just my lame attempt at mystery...building suspense and whatnot. But...I've never been all that good at it, so next chapter will probably explain things._  



	3. Revealed

"So...? It seems you've decided you know the answer to the question."

Kakashi lowered his book and slipped it back into its pouch, crossing his arms and raising a thin silver eyebrow. Jiraiya, chewing methodically on a strip of fish, gestured to the food skewered on thin sticks cooking on the fire.

The three genin sat down and began to eat.

"Well...we're not _certain_," Sakura said. "But...the only thing I can think of is...a village-wide genjutsu. The scenery is different, the villagers are different, and nobody recognized us. We didn't recognize anyone, either, so we figured you changed their appearances."

"So we figure what you did, ero-sennin, is used the jutsu so you could spy on girls without anyone knowing who you were," Naruto added, the expression on his face showing that he clearly disapproved of the activity. "And ya changed stuff around in the village to confuse us."

Jiraiya frowned thoughtfully. "Is that so...? A genjutsu woven around the village so that the user is unrecognized...sounds like something a missing-nin might want to use, eh, Kakashi?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Might want to see if such a jutsu exists," he murmured. "It would probably help the ANBU corps in tracking them down. But, uh...nope. Sorry Naruto, Sakura, but you have it wrong."

"So...the young genius is silent," Jiraiya said. "I take that to mean _you _have _another _guess. So what do _you _say, Sasuke?"

The black-haired boy turned his eyes up to the hermit with a strangely intense expression. It was strange because Jiraiya found himself slightly intimidated by it, which didn't sit well with him.

_Damn, Jiraiya, knock it off! _he scolded himself. _He came back! He's not Orochimaru's pawn! Ugh...this is ridiculous._

Sasuke drew in a deep breath. "At first, I agreed with Sakura and Naruto. Genjutsu seemed the most likely solution. The first thing that made me think that wasn't the case, though, was that I couldn't see through it."

"Ah...tried to use your sharingan to break the illusion," Jiraiya murmured.

"However, that wasn't enough," he continued, "because the jutsu was performed by one of the legendary sannin. So...I couldn't exactly rely on _my_ eyes to break it."

Jiraiya smirked. "Correct. If I wanted to use genjutsu on you, nothing you did would make it break. You're too young and too inexperienced."

Sasuke grunted. "Still, it was enough to make me doubt. Then, we passed Ichiraku Ramen...or, at least, what _should _have been Ichiraku Ramen. But it wasn't there. That, of course, also could have been part of the genjutsu, but...it made us stop."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "...A man accused me of falsely proclaiming myself an Uchiha, and warned me against wearing my clan's insignia. That could have _also_ been the genjutsu Sakura and Naruto are suggesting...but..."

"But...?"

"...His hair was black, not gray...but he was unmistakable."

"Oh? And who was it that stopped you, Sasuke?"

"A member of the Konoha Military Police Force...Uchiha Yashiro."

Sakura gasped, and Naruto stared.

"You _know _that guy?" Sakura asked incredulously. "He was...a part of your clan?"

"You had to know I wouldn't appreciate this," Sasuke muttered, ignoring his teammates, "and I don't think you would do it just to spite me. Regardless of the rumors I've heard about you, I've also heard that, deep down, you're a respectable ninja. So I don't think this sort of prank would be something you'd do. I don't think this is some genjutsu you used to test us..."

Jiraiya was actually smiling. "Oh...? So what _do _you think?"

"I think...you brought us into the past."

* * *

"_HUH!? _Sasuke, what the hell are you talking about!" Naruto crowed. "The _past! _Are you _serious!?"_

"Yes...back when my clan was still alive...when it was a respected presence in the Hidden Leaf...that's what you did, isn't it, Jiraiya?"

The frog hermit chuckled. "Genius, indeed. Then again, we figured you would run across _someone _from your clan during your assignment. Yashiro, huh...? Yeah, if I remember right, he was always a stickler for tradition. He would have been annoyed to see a non-Uchiha with the Uchiha insignia...did you tell him you _were?"_

"Yes, I did. He struck me with a kunai."

"Huh. Well, in any case, you have it right. The jutsu I used is a time-travel technique. It's a complicated process, but evidently it worked. Good."

"J-Jiraiya-sama...he's _right?" _Sakura asked. "We're in the _past?"_

"Sure are," Jiraiya said. "At least a decade back...probably more. I'm not entirely certain...I was aiming for about fourteen, but who knows if that's what I managed? Guess we'll find out, won't we?"

Kakashi crossed his arms. "We'll have to do something about this. If you achieved your goal, these three haven't been born yet, which means we'll have to have some way to explain their presence here."

"I figure I'll talk to the old man," Jiraiya said. "He can help cover this up. He'll know the jutsu; he'll understand the situation. We can just say they've been training with me for a while, which is why they haven't been around. I gave them the headbands because I tested them myself and deemed them ready."

"Only the Hokage and his council can decree a student is ready for that," Sakura pointed out. "Students are given their headbands in the graduation ceremony after their scores are looked over by the council and approved. How can you say you did something that's against the law?"

"Eh. I'll wing it."

"Jiraiya-sama!"

"Oh, stop worrying. I'll handle it. The worst that could happen is that I'll have to explain to the village what I did. I'd rather we not get into such a messy situation, so I'll get the old man to help me. If it doesn't work, oh well."

"So...we're not even _born _yet? That's so freakin' _weird!" _Naruto said, eyes wide and excited. "This's the best idea you ever had, ero-sennin!_ Awesome!"_

Jiraiya chuckled. "That's what _I _thought. I figured, if nothing else, it'd be fun. Plus...well, you'll all get to meet someone you know very well, but have never met. Did you, by chance, happen to look up at the Hokage Monument while you were in the village?"

"Uh...yeah," Naruto said, "so what?"

"What did you see?"

"Shodai-sama," Sakura said, "Nidaime-sama, Sandaime-sama...wait! Yondaime-sama! The Fourth's face wasn't there!"

"That's right," Jiraiya said with a chuckle. "And that's because he isn't Hokage yet."

"Seriously!?" Naruto cried. "He isn't!?"

"Nope." Jiraiya rubbed his chin. "In this time, he's just plain old Namikaze Minato. He's made a name for himself, but he isn't quite strong enough to succeed Sarutobi. Not yet."

"So," Sasuke murmured, "you used this jutsu to see Yondaime again."

"Indeed. Minato was my student, you see. He invented the Rasengan. I'm sure you remember _that _particular jutsu."

Sasuke nodded, scowling. Oh, yes...he did.

Sakura seemed almost as excited as Naruto now. "I've always wanted to know what kind of man Yondaime-sama was! Can we go see him now? Is he in the village?"

"Dunno," Jiraiya murmured thoughtfully. "But I know who to ask. So...now that you know what sort of situation we're in right now, what say we get moving?"

"Hai!" Naruto and Sakura said enthusiastically.

"Ngh," Sasuke grunted.

* * *

Team Kakashi stood outside the Hokage's office as Jiraiya stormed in. The sannin had claimed that it would be easier, for now, to keep Sandaime oblivious to their existence. It would be explained soon enough, he had said, and he really didn't want to deal with a headache. 

The four ninja sighed. For Kakashi, it was a reminder of just how irresponsible the white-haired man could be sometimes; for Sasuke and Sakura, it was a reminder of just how similar he was to Naruto (which was basically the same as Kakashi's reaction, actually); for Naruto, it was the ruination of his plan to surprise the old man with a particular jutsu that he hadn't used in a long while.

"Hey, old man! Long time no see! Where's that blonde idiot gone to?"

_He really _is _like Naruto... _Sasuke thought, shaking his head and marveling at the coincidence. Just as Tsunade seemed an older, more powerful, more experienced version of Sakura, and just as Orochimaru had seemed an older, more powerful, and more experienced (_and_ more psychotic) version of himself, so too was Jiraiya to Naruto.

History repeats itself...how true it was.

"...Jiraiya. What a pleasant surprise."

"Yeah, well...I was in the neighborhood. So...where's my prized student, huh?"

"...You mean your _only _student?" Sandaime replied caustically.

"Tch."

"Minato and his team have been on a mission for the past few days, but I expect them back sometime early this evening...likely in a few hours."

"Well, well...seems I have good timing!"

"So it seems...what brings you back to the village anyway, Jiraiya?"

"Oh, no particular reason...just thought I'd check in, see how you were holding up, go drinking with Minato, frighten the wits out of his genin, you know. Normal things."

"...The last time you visited, you evidently had Minato's team playing strip poker atop the monument...on _my _head, no less."

Jiraiya laughed. "Oh, yes...I remember that. Found out that little Rin's a bad gambler."

Had his mask been slightly lower, the three genin would have seen Kakashi's face turn red.

"Yes...Minato mentioned that."

"Heh. Well, anyway, I suppose I'll just go for a walk around the village 'til the Flash gets back. Nice seeing you again, old-timer."

"..._You _don't look all that young yourself anymore, Jiraiya. Older than I would have thought, actually...seems you've been rather harsh on yourself..."

"Yes, but at least _I'm _not _balding."_

Sandaime grumbled in response to that, and Jiraiya came sauntering out of the office with a grin on his face, as if he had won some sort of contest. Winking at his four companions, he gestured for them to follow him.

"You know...speaking of that little experiment," Jiraiya murmured thoughtfully as they walked, "I remember hearing that you, uh...were torn between choosing your mask or your pants when Obito hit you with that straight flush."

Kakashi grunted.

"...And that you have very pale legs."

He choked.

Naruto looked at his two teammates. "Figures."

Sasuke and Sakura agreed.

* * *

"Hey! What'd ya do that for!" 

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah you do, you jerk! You put that rock there on purpose!"

"...He did _not_. You just tripped over it because you weren't paying attention. Don't blame him for your own clumsiness."

"Nah-uh! I know he did! You did, didn't you? Fess up!"

"...Could you, I don't know, try being _quiet _for once?"

"Not unless you admit you put that rock there!"

"...Fine. I put the rock there."

"Ha! I _knew _it! I _KNEW IT!"_

"...I should have expected you wouldn't keep your word."

"Hey, hey, hey," Namikaze Minato said, holding up his hands. "Calm down, you guys, huh? You're giving me a headache. Obito, stop it. Kakashi _didn't _trip you, okay? It was just a rock."

"No way!" the spikey-headed Uchiha cried indignantly. "I'm a ninja, Sensei! I wouldn't trip on a _rock! _Stupid jerk Kakashi put it there on purpose!"

Running a hand through his messy blond hair, Minato sighed heavily. He never would have expected taking on a team of genin would be this much work. He'd been certain that watching over genin, real _ninja, _would be at _least _less of a headache than watching over _normal _children, like he'd done in his youth (not entirely of his own volition...kind of like now), but the combination of Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi, and Rin (Minato often wondered what the girl's family name was, but he hadn't gotten around to asking) was trying on his patience.

A lot of it was Obito, and though he wouldn't admit it out loud, the main reason the black-haired boy was so annoying was because he reminded Minato rather poignantly of himself.

Since taking on this team, Konoha's Yellow Flash had slowly gained more and more respect (and sympathy) for his own teacher...though he'd never say it to the white-haired pervert's face.

In retrospect, he really shouldn't have been as surprised as he was when said white-haired pervert's face actually appeared (as if out of thin air) right in front of his eyes. After all, he was a _jounin_ now, an elite shinobi, and elite shinobi didn't _squeak _when someone appeared suddenly in front of them.

..._This _jounin did.

"...S-S-Sensei? When did...you show up?"

Obito screamed and ducked behind Rin, Kakashi rolled his eyes (but kept a tight hold on the kunai he now held in his right hand), and Rin looked about as helplessly frightened as a kicked puppy...and more than a little disgusted.

Jiraiya grinned (showing far too many teeth), and chuckled in that odd, low, perverted way of his. "Well, well...lookee here. Been a while since I saw you kids...how're you doing?"

Obito screamed again.

Minato smacked his forehead.

His headache was _never _going to go away now.

He just hoped he wouldn't have to explain to the Uchiha elders why Obito wasn't wearing any pants and laughing uproariously about how _girly _Kakashi's legs looked...like the _last _time his sensei had decided to drop in.

* * *

_Some of you saw this coming. Be proud of yourselves. For those of you who didn't...surprised? Heh. Well, I just couldn't resist the idea of Team Kakashi interacting with Team Yellow Flash, so...time travel! Yay! Ah, the wonders of ninja-dom._

_Side note...I decided on the name Kazama Arashi because it seems the most widespread name for Yondaime-sama. I don't claim to know his real name, as only Kishimoto-sensei does...or maybe even he doesn't; I don't know. So...Kazama Arashi it is._

_Another side note...this is slightly AU in that Sasuke is still around even though the timeline (at first) was sometime in between Sasuke's leaving the village and Naruto's extended training with Jiraiya. I'm not sure why I decided on this, but I did._


	4. Students and Teachers

He had been apprehensive about approaching them. 

Hatake Kakashi was able to hold back his fear, his nervousness, his anxiety, as well as any jounin before him; perhaps better than most of them. When he was confronted with a mission, he carried it out without faltering in the slightest.

But this...this was far more than he had ever anticipated he might confront. He found himself wishing that he had been asked to undertake the assassination of Orochimaru rather than this.

The idea of seeing his old team again, while achingly tempting, was also incredibly daunting. He found his feet were anchored to the ground, and instead of moving out of hiding when Jiraiya called out (using the name Kimura, something he had evidently decided on at the last moment), he stayed stolid where he was.

Sasuke brushed past his commander, followed closely by Sakura and Naruto, and Kakashi felt ashamed of himself. This was stupid. Why was he so nervous at the prospect of finally having the chance to see his closest friends again? It was completely incomprehensible.

"Sensei's on his way," Sakura said.

Kakashi watched his team as Jiraiya introduced them.

Jiraiya scowled. "Where is that boy...? Hmph. _Some Hatake you are, Kimura!" _he called out.

"Hatake...?" Kakashi heard a voice, a strange, familiar, young voice repeat. "This...Kimura is a Hatake?"

"Mm-hm," Jiraiya nodded. "Kind of a...black sheep, if you will. You probably wouldn't know of him. Took me a whole hell of a lot of negotiating to get him to show his face around here again...and really, he _hasn't."_

"He like Kakashi?" asked Obito with an annoyed frown. "Hidin' behind a mask all the time?"

"Indeed."

Hearing the Uchiha's voice again after over a decade made Kakashi's heart constrict with sudden pain, and he found himself short of breath.

This was unacceptable.

He stood up straight and walked out onto the path.

* * *

Jiraiya chuckled inwardly when the three genin stared at him with fright. Oh, sure, little Kakashi wasn't as much afraid as exasperated, but still...it was immensely pleasing to the sannin to see children with proper respect for his reputation. 

Or, if he couldn't get that (which he couldn't)...respect for his inventive "training" exercises.

Maito Gai might like running around Konoha on his hands for seven hours...but these three certainly hadn't.

"Oh, calm down," Jiraiya said finally, rolling his eyes.

The fun went away when they actually started _crying_.

"Kami, Rin, you don't have to look at me like I'm going to _eat _you. I'm just dropping in to check on you guys."

The young kunoichi didn't look convinced.

Minato crossed his arms, smirking slightly. "Uh...Jiraiya-sensei. If there's one thing I know about you, besides your psychosis, it's that you never visit anyone without a reason behind it. It's just not your way. So what is this?"

Jiraiya looked offended. He put a hand on his heart and stepped back. "Why, Minato! How _cold! _I simply wanted to see how you were holding up, is all!"

"Uh-huh."

Somehow, the blonde man didn't look convinced, either.

Sighing, Jiraiya shrugged. "Fine, fine. Too sharp for your own good, kid. There _is _an ulterior motive to my little visit today. I'd like you to meet a few people."

"...Huh?"

Jiraiya laughed heartily. "I've taken on new students! Didn't you hear? Ah...well, maybe not. In any case, I thought I'd show them my handiwork from the past, to show them that I _am _a superb teacher! You know...they're _actually _starting to _doubt _me."

"I wonder why..." Minato muttered tonelessly.

Obito snickered.

"Oi!" Jiraiya called out. "Kimura! Come on out, would ya? And bring the brats with you!"

When nothing happened for a moment, Jiraiya groaned. Of course he knew _why _Kakashi wasn't showing himself...he was nervous. Anxious. Apprehensive. And Jiraiya could understand that.

He didn't allow himself to show it, but staring his former student in the face again was extremely taxing. He felt an overwhelming urge to grab the big blonde idiot and hug him tight enough to strangle him, to apologize for not being there in time to help him, for allowing him to die, for any number of things.

No doubt Kakashi felt that same guilt.

The problem, though, was the masked man's personality. Jiraiya, like Naruto, had long since learned to hide his own anxieties behind a grin. He forced himself to be outgoing, to be outlandish, to be crass and stupid, because he knew what happened if one let guilt overwhelm him.

Tsunade had run away.

Orochimaru had become a criminal.

Sasuke almost done both.

Yes...it was no wonder that Kakashi was still nowhere to be seen.

"Tch..." Jiraiya scowled.

Sakura came out of the brush, followed closely by her teammates. The four others looked at her with interest. "Sensei's coming," she told Jiraiya.

"Well...anyway. I guess introductions are in order. This is Yamada Sakura, Kazuhiko Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke."

To the kids' credit, no expression passed their faces at the new, completely false, family names. He could half-hear Naruto crying indignantly, "How come Sasuke gets to keep his real name and we don't!?"

But he didn't do that.

Thank God.

"Guys, this is Rin, Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi, and Namikaze Minato."

When exchanges of bows and "Hellos," were exchanged, and the newly christened Kimura hadn't shown himself yet, Jiraiya crossed his arms and sighed.

Well...if there was one thing he had learned from Obito and Naruto both, it was that with people like Kakashi (or Sasuke, for that matter), one way to get them to do what you wanted was to insult their courage.

"Where is that boy...? Some _Hatake _you are, Kimura!" the hermit snarled. "Get out here! No one's gonna kill you on sight! What are you, a greenhorn genin?"

"Hatake...?"

The young silver-haired chuunin was back to watching Jiraiya intently now. His eyes (both black, Jiraiya noticed, and marveled at the sight; how long had it been since the last time he had seen Kakashi without Obito's sharingan?) were slightly wider than normal.

"This Kimura...is a Hatake?"

Jiraiya grinned. "Mm-hm. Kind of a...black sheep, if you will. You probably wouldn't know of him. Took me a whole hell of a lot of negotiating to get him to show his face around here again...and really, he _hasn't."_

"He like Kakashi?" Obito asked, frowning. "Hidin' behind a mask all the time?"

"Indeed," Jiraiya nodded. "According to Kimura, it is a...tradition in the Hatake family. When a member becomes of age, he dons a mask."

Kakashi nodded. "Correct. Ninja are faceless weapons for the use of their employer. Their features serve no purpose other than to get them caught. That is what I was told. We wear these masks to keep ourselves unknown."

"That is...correct, young one," said Kakashi's older self, finally showing himself, and there was only the slightest of quavers in his deep voice. "However, ever since we stopped covering our _entire _bodies, the tradition has become naught more than that. Any enemy worth his eyes will recognize a ninja who wears a mask which only covers part of his face."

All eyes turned to the young jounin.

Kakashi crossed his arms. "I...suppose you are correct. Would that be why you wear your _hitai-ate _in such an odd manner?"

Kimura (Jiraiya had to start thinking of the man as having this name or he would become hopelessly confused after a while) chuckled. "...Perhaps. But that's a secret I'm not willing to disclose...even if you _are _family."

"He looks pretty cool..." Rin murmured thoughtfully under her breath.

"Yeah...pulls off that mask a whole helluva lot better 'n _you_, Kakashi," Obito laughed, elbowing his teammate with a sneer. "_He _looks _good _in it. Like a badass. _You _just look like a moron."

Jiraiya had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. Oh, the irony...

"So..._you _are Uchiha Obito, eh?" Kimura murmured, cutting off Kakashi's sarcastic retort, and Jiraiya noted that he stuttered just slightly when saying the boy's name.

"Yeah, 'at's me!" Obito said proudly, jabbing at himself with a thumb. "Master of the sharingan! The best ninja in history!"

"...How can you be a _master _at something you can't even _use_, Obito-kun?" Rin posed.

"Hey! I...I _will _be! I _will _be!"

Sasuke smirked. "...An Uchiha shinobi unable to use the sharingan? Aren't you supposed to be a _chuunin?"_

Obito rounded on the other boy with a scowl. "Hey! Back off, new guy! It ain't my fault!"

"Hmph," Sasuke crossed his arms and his smirk widened. "...I'm sure."

"Who _are _you, anyways?" Obito asked suspiciously. "You wear the fan of the Uchiha on your shirt, there, 'n the old perv said you was part of my clan, but I never seen you before."

"You were too young to have remembered Sasuke," Jiraiya said. "He's been training with me for a long time now."

"That long, huh, Sensei?" Minato asked, raising an eyebrow. "Interesting...so are these new students of yours any good?"

"Good? We're _awesome!" _Naruto cried. "We kick total _ass! _I'm gonna be the next Hokage!"

Sasuke punched the back of Naruto's head. "Lower your damn voice, dobe. You're giving me a headache."

"Why you! I'll kick your--"

"Boys, stop it, would you!" Sakura said sharply. "Be polite!"

Minato frowned. "...Déjà vu."

"They _are _pretty similar, aren't they?" Jiraiya asked. "Although...these three here are still genin. They've a lot of potential, though. Naruto can use a watered-down version of the Rasengan, and Sasuke has quite a bit of experience with the sharingan. And Sakura, I'm ashamed to admit, is probably smarter than--"

"You taught someone else my move, Sensei?" Minato interrupted, frowning again. His eyes sharpened, eyebrows lowered. Unlike before, he now looked like what he was...a jounin, a seasoned soldier, primed for the position of Hokage. Even Jiraiya sobered, looking into those eyes. "You didn't think it prudent to clear it with me? I don't want that information just floating around Konoha, you know. It's dangerous if used too often or incorrectly."

"That's true of many jutsu," Jiraiya said. "Trust me. That kid can handle it."

Said kid was still struggling to land a blow on Sasuke, but couldn't break free of Sakura's iron grip. Kakashi and Rin watched with amusement, seeing their hotheaded teammate in Naruto, and Obito watched with anger, seeing his arrogant teammate in Sasuke...

...Not to mention the pretentious little rookie had insulted him! Bastard!

"..._He _can handle it. Somehow...I find myself fearing for the safety of Konoha if a loose cannon like _him _can use Rasengan..."

"He's as loyal a soldier as you can get," Jiraiya assured. "The last thing you need to worry about is that kid hurting anyone or any_thing _in this village."

Jiraiya was oddly serious when he said this, and it caught Minato's attention. His frown changed to a neutral line. "...All right. I'll trust you. But...I still don't like it."

"Loosen up, kiddo. I wouldn't have taught him if I thought he would abuse it. He's saved lives with that move."

That made Minato's lips curl in the slightest of smiles, his mood lightening again. "Oh? Well...that's good. Glad to hear that."

"Besides, you hypocrite," Jiraiya muttered, his serious mood evaporating, "Naruto is just like you. You think _you _were any _better _at that age?"

Minato frowned again. Sighing, and smiling a little again, he shrugged. "No use fighting it. So...you say he can use a _watered down _version...what do you mean?"

"Naruto," Jiraiya said, and the blonde stopped fighting against his teammate's hold. He looked at him.

"Huh?"

"Minato wants to see you use Rasengan. Show him, would you?"

Looking at the man as though he had just now realized he was in the immediate company of the inventor of his signature jutsu, the future Yondaime, he stared openly at Minato for a moment before grinning widely.

"You bet!"

"He can use your jutsu, Sensei?" Rin asked, looking at Minato thoughtfully.

"So Jiraiya-sensei says."

Naruto took a deep breath, stepped away from the group and faced a tree. Making the cross seal that no one in Konoha but him used anymore, he cried, "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" and a clone appeared beside him.

Minato's eyes widened slightly. "Kage bunshin...?" he repeated.

Holding his hand to the side, Naruto waited as his clone manipulated the chakra in his palm until soon, a swirling vortex of blinding blue energy was caught between his fingers.

"Rasengan!" he shouted, and shot forward, slamming his hand into the tree.

...Minato and his team stared at him for a long while.

Naruto turned, looked at Minato, and chuckled somewhat nervously. "Uh...there ya go."

"Watered down...when you said that, I thought you meant in terms of _power!"_ Minato breathed. "That was...it took me _years _to get it that strong!"

"Took him a few weeks," Jiraiya said, and Minato whirled on him.

"_Weeks! _My _God, _what...?"

Jiraiya grinned. "Why do you think I took that bumbling idiot on as my student? Dumb as he acts sometimes, he's strong. And he has a lot of talent."

"Tch..._I'll _say."

"Hey! Don't call me an idiot, ero-sennin!"

And with that, the last remnants of Minato's skepticism vanished in a fit of laughter. His entire mood had changed, and Jiraiya knew that Naruto had, with that one name, made a friend.

"Ero-sennin!" Minato cried, holding his sides. "Oh, that's great! I love it! I'll have to use that!"

Naruto grinned again, full force.

Jiraiya scowled. "Tch...figures."

Obito frowned thoughtfully. "Ero...-sennin? He lets you call him _that?"_

Naruto snickered. "Pfft. He tries to act all scary, but he's just an old pervert."

Sasuke and Sakura nodded their agreement.

Obito looked back at his teammates, remembering the sorts of things Jiraiya made _them _do when they annoyed him...and just how he forced them to do those things.

"Well, uh...we know _that_," Rin said, "but...he doesn't...I mean_...punish _you?"

"He tries to be tough," Sasuke muttered, "but he's just as much an idiot as dobe, here." He smacked the back of Naruto's head again. "Speaking of which, Jiraiya, did you--"

"Jiraiya-_sama_, you ingrate!"

"...Did you actually set up a place for us to sleep tonight or are we just going to camp out?"

"We'll get a hotel room or something. Don't call me an idiot!"

"Stop _being_ one," Sasuke replied, echoing Naruto's own words from earlier that day.

There was a stretch of quiet as Jiraiya and Sasuke stared each other down, while Minato wiped tears from his eyes and flashed a thumbs-up to Naruto.

Obito grudgingly broke the silence.

"So, uh...Sasuke...you can use the sharingan?"

* * *

_This was fun to write, but a bit harder than I thought. Introductions between a large group of people (okay, so maybe nine people isn't exactly a large group, but...) is difficult to get through. Still...I think this worked. Anyway, I think next chapter will be when things start getting really interesting._

_Side note...the names I gave to Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura are ompletely random. They don't mean anything._


	5. Pillows, Ramen, and Memories

"...Oraweru you ni...isoideiru...kawaite mune ga...karitateru no sa..."

Tapping his foot in tune with the rhythm in his head, Minato mumbled the words under his breath before lifting up his chopsticks and slurping up the noodles in one quick motion, a thoughtful expression on his face as he chewed.

A decidedly unfavorable expression rose on his face and he glared at the bowl in his hand as if it had insulted him. "Why does this stupid hotel _never _cook this stuff right?"

Naruto, too, looked perturbed, inspecting the chunk of meat caught between his own chopsticks. "They call _this _miso? Tastes like liquefied rubber!"

"The noodles don't have the right consistency, either...they're too...tough."

"One of mine was _crunchy!" _Naruto declared with a scowl.

Minato shook his head in disgust. "This tastes like that instant stuff they sell at convenience stores...cooked the _wrong _way."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "but it's like they took the little seasoning packet from a bunch and mixed 'em together. I can taste beef _and _chicken in this...and that oriental flavor, too...and..."

"Too salty...like they added _more. _You're not supposed to _add _salt to ramen, for the love of...why would anyone _do _that? There's enough salt in it already! And you know? I taste shrimp or something, too. These people are just throwing seven different kinds of ramen into the pot and calling it done!"

Naruto took another bite and frowned. "...Eight."

Surprised, Minato followed suit. "Hey...you're _right!"_

It was about then that the pair noticed seven pairs of eyes on them. They turned, identical expressions of surprise on their faces.

"Oh, great..." Rin muttered as she rolled her eyes. "_He's _a ramen junkie too?"

Sakura nodded. "Yep."

"We're not _junkies!" _Naruto and Minato snapped at the same time.

The blonde jounin cleared his throat. "I'm a ramen _connoisseur, _thank you very much."

"Yeah!" Naruto nodded his agreement. "Connoisseur!"

"Do you even know what that _means?" _Sakura asked.

"Sure I do! It's what I am!"

The pink-haired kunoichi rolled her eyes and was about to say something else, but Jiraiya interrupted.

"Hey, what was that you were mumbling just now, kid?"

"Huh?" Minato raised an eyebrow. "Oh...just a song I heard on my mission. Thought it was kinda catchy."

"I got the album," Obito said proudly. "It _rocks!"_

There was a long silence as Kakashi and Rin lent identical looks of disdain tinged with disbelief to their goggle-clad teammate. Obito, completely oblivious, looked at the pair with wide eyes.

"...What?"

Disgusted grunts.

"What?"

Rolling of eyes.

"Oh, come on, _what!?"_

"That..." Rin finally said, "was the dumbest pun I've ever heard. Even _you _can do better than that, Obito-kun."

"Huh? What are you talking about? I just said..."

"'Rocks' is the name of the _song_, you idiot," Kakashi muttered.

"Huh?" Obito blinked. "It is? I didn't know that..."

"Did you even look at the back of the case at the track listing?"

"Uh...no?"

Rin threw a pillow at him.

Naruto heaved a sigh of relief. "Whew...attention _off _me..."

Minato frowned. "...Ramen still tastes terrible."

"Yeah."

Rin threw two pillows at _them._

"Hey!" Minato snapped, picking up the now-ramen-drenched pillow that had assaulted his face. Throwing it back at his student, he growled, "That one's yours!"

Naruto glanced at his bowl, sniffed, and handed it to Minato. "Here."

"Eh? Oh...thanks."

"Sucks, anyway."

"True. Almost makes me want to vomit, really."

Minato picked up his fallen chopsticks and began to eat again.

"Yep," he declared with a mouth filled with undercooked noodles, "terrible. Absolutely disgusting."

Sasuke shook his head. "Ugh...they're _both _helpless..."

Kakashi sighed. "Sometimes I wonder how that man became a jounin."

He didn't catch the odd look Sasuke gave him.

Kimura gave _Sasuke_ a look that said, _Don't say a word._

All in all, it was a pretty normal evening.

* * *

"So, Sensei...why'd you take on new students, anyway?" 

Jiraiya shrugged, gazing at the moon. "Always said I'd never find another big blonde dolt like you...but I was wrong. Figured I'd try again, see if _this _one would turn out any better...he hasn't, but hey. I'm used to it."

"You know, Hokage-sama told me I'm one of the prime candidates for his successor. So...I'm not exactly a failure."

"Sarutobi's senile," Jiraiya muttered. "Let that chain-smoking son of his into the ranks of the chuunin, didn't he? He's senile and soft. He probably just said that so he wouldn't hurt your feelings."

"Asuma isn't a bad ninja, you know. He's pretty good. He'll probably make jounin in a couple years."

"All the more proof that this village is going downhill," Jiraiya said. "If _that _lazy little brat makes it into the elite...tch. Well, whatever. Out of my hands, anyway."

Minato chuckled and followed his teacher's gaze. "I like these new kids of yours...a bit strange...but there's a certain sort of camaraderie about them. Like my own students."

"Naruto and Sasuke would never admit it, but they're each other's best friend," Jiraiya said. "They push each other. Force each other to get better. I think that's why I didn't separate them, even though it seemed hopeless."

"I'm starting to think the same of Kakashi and Obito. They seem to _enjoy _their verbal sparring. And it seems like every time I turn around they have some new trick up their sleeves."

"It's never boring, at least...they're always doing _something _interesting."

Minato chuckled. "And...that Naruto kid really _is _like me, isn't he?"

"Oh, yes...one of the first things I noticed about him. Loud, abrasive, yet somehow lovable idiot. Ramen lover. And too damn energetic for his own good. If I didn't know any better I'd think he was your son."

Minato was looking away and didn't see the amused grin suddenly spread on Jiraiya's lips as he said that. By the time he looked back, the grin was gone.

"I think I'm gonna like that kid."

"You don't seem to like Obito all that much, and he's the same."

"Oh, I like Obito just fine...but something about Naruto's just...appealing."

"He knows about ramen?"

"That's probably part of it."

"Well...yeah. He's a good kid. And even though his teammates give him a hard time, I'm pretty sure they like him. They just don't wanna admit it."

Shaking his head, Minato laughed. "God...it's like they've been reborn into different bodies. Hell, they almost have the same _haircuts_. Just dye Naruto's hair black, Sasuke's silver, and Sakura's brown, and nobody would be able to tell the difference."

"It is kind of scary...you know, they say when you meet someone that reminds you of yourself, you either bond immediately or hate his guts. Hopefully these guy's will bond."

They turned and looked in the window at the six young ninja.

Rin and Sakura had ganged up on Naruto and Obito and were beating them mercilessly with pillows, while Sasuke and Kakashi watched from the other side of the room.

"...I think they're bonding," Minato murmured.

Naruto, in a last-ditch attempt to escape death by feathers, jumped up onto the ceiling and flipped upside down, using chakra to keep himself up. Running away from the two kunoichi, he turned around and laughed at them.

Rin launched her pillow at Naruto with deadly accuracy, and it hit him square in the face, causing him to fall from his perch...

...Onto the laps of Sasuke and Kakashi, who grunted in surprise and pain.

Glancing at each other, the two black-eyed ninja picked Naruto up and held his arms. Naruto strained against the hands holding him in place, but couldn't.

Sakura and Rin grinned at each other and started stalking toward the struggling blonde.

Obito struck them both from behind, and they whirled on him again.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Yeah...they're bonding."

"Think we should save them before they start losing teeth?"

"...I guess so."

* * *

"We're fine, Sensei!" Rin assured with a grin when the jounin stepped back into the room, tossing her pillow into Obito's face, who "oomphed" and fell backward off of the bed and smacked his head on the wall. 

"Ow!"

"Rin...did you use chakra to throw that thing?"

"...Yes?"

Obito popped his head up from behind the bed. "Hey! That wasn't fair!"

Minato rubbed his chin. "Hmmm...well, as much as I don't like to see my subordinates hurt--"

Obito coughed in what sounded suspiciously like, "Liar!"

"--I suppose I should commend you in using chakra in such a manner...very smart. Good job, Rin."

"Sakura-san told me about it," Rin said. "It sounded like a good idea."

"I think my goggles are broken!"

Jiraiya sighed and glanced at Sasuke. "What's been happening in here?"

"Animal cruelty," Sasuke muttered.

"Hey!" Obito and Naruto both snarled.

Minato snorted laughter. "God...this is great..." he muttered under his breath. "Okay," he said in a louder voice, "it's getting late and if we aren't in Sandaime's office by six tomorrow he'll probably send an ANBU out to look for us. So...how about we all get some shuteye now before we have to make a trip to the hospital first?"

"Ya know," Naruto mumbled, climbing into the bed he had claimed for himself, "I never thought being a ninja would mean I'd still have a _bedtime_."

He was asleep in seven seconds.

Nobody said anything about the fact that he was resting his head on the Pillow of Bad Ramen, because really...he didn't seem to care.

Once Obito laid himself down, he followed Naruto's example and was asleep immediately.

Sasuke and Kakashi simply closed their eyes and leaned back against the wall. Jiraiya and Minato glanced at each other and shrugged.

"Think they're trying to prove something?" Minato murmured.

"Probably."

Sakura and Rin decided to share the last bed, and Minato and Kimura both clapped a hand over Jiraiya's mouth before he could say anything.

"Come _on_, Sensei," Minato said, "let's go sleep outside, shall we? It's a warm night and I don't feel like sleeping on this cramped floor space. Let's _go."_

They dragged the red-faced, giggling sannin out of the room.

* * *

"Something about the moon makes for solemn conversation, huh?" Jiraiya asked as Kimura approached him. 

"Seems that way."

"Already had a talk with Minato earlier; you know, when the pillow war was going on. Where were _you _during that, anyway?"

"Getting a drink. Anyway...just how long does this jutsu last?"

"From what I could gather, as long as we want it to."

"Hmmm...so, what? We just...live as have been?"

"Pretty much."

Kimura turned to the moon and sighed. "Now that I've seen them again...it feels just like old times. I almost feel like joining my younger self in berating Obito."

Jiraiya chuckled. "That really wouldn't be fair, would it? Obito gave you many things...not just your sharingan. Maybe you should take _his _side to make him feel better. After all, you believe many of the same things he does now."

Kimura chuckled. "Defend him? Back him up when he begins one of his impassioned speeches?"

"Why not? You're Hatake Kimura now. No problem. You can do just about anything you want. Now..._me_, on the other hand, I have to act like myself. Much as I'd like to ruffle that goggle-headed moron's hair and tell him he's a good kid and I really don't hate him...can't act like that. Wouldn't seem right."

"...You liked Obito as much as we did, didn't you, Jiraiya-sama?"

"Yeah...good kid. But I didn't realize _how _good 'til I got the message from Minato that he'd died. I guess that's just how life works...you don't know what you have until you lose it, you know. And you don't realize just how true that old saying is until you experience it."

Kimura nodded. "If...if I'd known he was going to die...if I'd known he was willing to _sacrifice _himself for his friends...I'm sure I wouldn't have mocked him as much as I did. Anyone willing to die for what they believe in is worthy of respect, no matter who they are."

Jiraiya smiled slightly. "This is...strange. I wasn't sure what to expect when I did this...but it just seems...normal. The old routine. It doesn't feel like anything's changed."

"Mm," Kimura agreed, nodding. "Indeed. And...I, for one, am glad for it. It feels...right."

"It's funny...all the things Minato used to do that annoyed me...just make me want to laugh now. Everything I used to get angry about...makes me smile. I feel like a sap."

Kimura smiled beneath his mask. "Yes, well...death changes one's perspective."

Jiraiya nodded.

They looked at each other.

"Say..." Jiraiya murmured. "What say we...make ourselves _useful _while we're here?"

"...How?"

The sannin chuckled. "We have knowledge no one else does. We should put it to good use."

"You know...in every book or movie I've ever seen with time travel...changing the past to affect the future never turns out well."

"That's because the people who try it are stupid. Civilians. We're _shinobi. _We can do it. We've got _plenty _of time, you know. So...let's do it."

"I suppose...it's worth a try."

* * *

_Sorry about the "Rocks" joke...I couldn't resist. I love that song...why is it that the second and subsequent opening themes to anime never seem to live up to the first? Sigh...oh, well. I'll live. The most recent opening theme is pretty catchy in its own right, I guess._

_In case anyone's wondering...yes, Asuma is Sandaime's son. And no, I'm not making that up. Says so in the latest chapter of the manga. Sorry for those who haven't read that far...but I didn't want anyone thinking I just made it up. This time, I didn't._

_And yes, for this story, I'm assuming that Minato-sama is Naruto's father. The story just wouldn't be as fun otherwise! If it turns out I'm wrong on that...oh, well. I'll learn to live with it. Far as I'm concerned, they're father and son. _

_Well, this was fun. Now, I realize right now this story is going far more into the Humor category than the Angst category, but that doesn't mean no angst will be present...eventually, there'll have to be. Still, as can be witnessed by the over-the-top silliness of this chapter (blame Obito...he made me do it), I intend for this story to be mostly lighthearted and funny._

_Thanks to everyone reviewing this story. You guys are awesome. Keep 'em coming. And I love long reviews, by the way, so if you find you have anything you want to say, don't hesitate because you think I'll be bored...I won't be. I love hearing from you._


	6. Planning Ahead

"A success, I assume?"

Minato, hands in the pockets of his pants, nodded with a grin. "Sure thing, Sandaime. The kids did a great job. Nobody suspected a thing. They can play the innocent child act pretty well."

Running a hand through his graying brown hair, Sandaime nodded with a slight smile and blew a cloud of smoke out of one side of his mouth. "Good. That's fine. So...any substantial information?"

"No, not really...they're tight-lipped about it. Plus, people usually aren't exactly comfortable with talking about a pending war around children, and anyone my age they're suspicious of. So...we didn't get much. They did dance around a lot of our questions, though. Like they were nervous."

Looking over the stack of papers Minato had handed him, Sandaime nodded. "I had figured that...you did well, though. If nothing else, it reaffirms my suspicion that the Hidden Rock is planning _something. _Thank you. Take a couple days off to rest and train, eh?"

Minato nodded. "Yassir. Thank you, sir."

Continuing to go through the pages of the jounin's report, Sandaime nodded. "You're dismissed, Minato."

"Thank you, sir," Minato repeated, and set down a small slip of paper on the man's desk before leaving.

* * *

_Old man,_

_I have three new students with me right now, all of them twelve years old, and one of them is an Uchiha. The clan won't recognize him, however, and he isn't in the records, so I'll need your assistance when and if they decide to bring up the matter with you. Just...tweak things or something._

_His name is Sasuke. Yashiro probably reported him to you or one of your adjutants a little while ago. I'll explain the details later, when I have the time to go into detail._

_Thanks in advance,_

_The Great Jiraiya-sama_

_

* * *

_

Frowning, Sandaime rubbed his bearded chin, reading and re-reading the small message written in his former student's oddly precise, flowing handwriting. He did remember something Uchiha Yashiro had told him the previous day about someone wearing the Uchiha insignia, but he hadn't heard the boy's name.

"Sasuke, huh? Hm."

He was curious, but if there was one thing the elite ninja had learned in all his years of dealing with Jiraiya, it was that when he asked you to do something, you did it. Sandaime could only think of about three times Jiraiya had ever asked him to do something in all the time they'd done business together, from his academy days until now.

He would only ask for a favor if it was very, _very _important.

Sandaime decided he would go over the birth records from twelve years past and add in the name Sasuke later on in the day. Whatever the reason, Jiraiya obviously needed this done.

He wondered why.

* * *

"I gave him the note like you asked, Sensei," Minato said. "What was it about, anyway?" 

"Just a bit of old business," Jiraiya said. "Personal, you know."

"Oh. Huh. Okay, then."

The pair walked over to where Kimura and the others were, a newly established stand in the middle of the village called simply "Ichiraku Ramen." The proprietor was unsatisfied with his current location, though, as there was little daily traffic, and planned to move to a better place in the village when he had enough money to afford a bigger stand.

Minato had yet to try the food there, but he'd heard good things, and after Naruto had assured him that it was the best ramen _ever, _he'd decided to have lunch there.

Naruto was just as particular about his ramen as Minato was, so anything _he _endorsed was likely to be heavenly. Minato wondered, though, just how Naruto _knew _it was so good...when had he been there?

The six young ninja sat at the stand with Kimura, eating already when Minato and Jiraiya showed up. There was only one remaining stool, and Jiraiya motioned for his student to take it.

"Kimura," Jiraiya said, "are you finished?"

"Yes."

"C'mon. I have to talk to you about something."

Nodding, the masked jounin left with him.

* * *

Long after the others had finished, Minato and Naruto continued to ask for more. By the end of an hour, Minato had tried and _adored _every variety available at the small stand two times over. 

"My _God_, this is good!" the blonde man said with a wide grin, and Naruto nodded emphatically. He had said this enough times to make the cook blush.

"Yeah, yeah, we heard, Sensei," Obito muttered, wiping off his goggles with a napkin. "Great. You like the ramen. Whoo-hoo."

"I mean, jeez!" Rin added. "Yeah, it was great food, no doubt about that, but...how many bowls have you _had?"_

Minato tapped each empty bowl. "Uh...nine, ten, eleven..."

"And Naruto-kun has had fourteen!"

"Yeah, whatever," Minato waved it off. "I just got paid, it's no big deal. Calm down, huh?"

"So you're buying?"

"Sure. I'll be generous. Might as well. I already have to buy a ton of 'em, four or so more won't make any difference. But, uh...you're full, aren't you?"

"_We've _been done for at least a half hour now."

"Good. Okay, then."

Sasuke stood up suddenly. "Thank you for the meal, Minato-sama," he said quietly, and his teammates looked at him oddly for a moment. "I'm going to find...Kimura."

He left without another word.

"Minato-_sama?" _Naruto repeated. "Since when's Sasuke all _respectful?"_

Sakura shrugged. "I guess he's heard about Minato-sama's reputation. You're going to try at being Sandaime-sama's successor, aren't you?"

Minato nodded. "'S right. This village's been running the same way for years...I respect Sarutobi, but I've got some changes I plan to make. The mannerisms of the Hyuuga, for example..."

He stirred his ramen with his chopsticks as he looked up at the Hokage monument, thinking. There was a minute or so of silence.

"...Speakin' of stuffed-shirted dignitaries," Obito said finally, "I gotta get home, Sensei. Thanks for payin'."

"It's still early, Obito. I'd hoped for us to get some training in today."

"Yeah, well...later. Last time I was late Mom almost bit my head off." Obito stood up and scrunched up his face, speaking in a squeaky, high-pitched, grating voice, "'Just because you're a ninja doesn't mean you don't have responsibilities here at the house, Obi-kun. Do you have _any _idea how hard it is to keep this place running?'"

Minato snickered. "You're mother's a fiery one, I'll say that. Wouldn't want you getting into hot water with her. Go on, _Obi-kun. _Say hi to _Mommy_."

Obito scowled. "Hey, shut up! I keep telling her to stop callin' me that, but she don't listen! 'You'll always be my little baby, Obi-kun. I'm your mother, I can call you what I want.' Sheesh...treatin' me like a kid half the time 'n a slave the other half...why'm I too young for her to call me by my name, but not young enough to get outta chores on top 'a my bein' a ninja! I'm a freakin' _chuunin _now! Ya wanna get technical, I'm her _superior! She _hasn't passed the chuunin exam! But _nooooo..._she can still boss me around 'cuz 'I'm your mother.'"

Rin was smiling. "She knows how to put you in your place, Obito-kun."

"My _place _is in the military! I shouldn't have to do dishes and change diapers!"

"...Can't handle a diaper, Obito?" Kakashi murmured softly. "Sounds as though she _does _know your place. If you aren't man enough to handle simple chores, you shouldn't _be _in our military."

"I ain't seen _you _volunteerin', Kakashi! So don't act all high 'n mighty on me!"

"Now, now," Minato said. "That's enough. Go on, Obito. See if you can come out later today. Tell them I called for you, if you can't get away."

Obito grinned. "Thanks. That usually works."

He turned away, back in his mocking tone. "'Where have you been? I've been slaving over this stove getting dinner ready for your father and uncle, and you're off wandering the village? Get moving, mister! You've got work to do! And give Itachi-chan his bottle, would you? He's been crying for the last two minutes! And _stop _antagonizing him! He's just a baby! And he's your cousin, so be nice!'"

Minato rolled his eyes. "I'm beginning to think he needs some sort of sedative. I should see if Tsunade-neechan has any ideas...then again, how long's it been since _she _came to visit? Maybe Shikaku has something..._he's _lazy enough, and he knows about medicines..."

Glancing back at the younger ninja, he noticed Sakura was slightly pale. "Sakura? What's wrong? Upset stomach?"

"Uh...n-no, Minato-sama. Sorry. Um...Naruto, could you come with me for a minute?"

"Huh? Oh, sure, Sakura-chan! You bet!"

* * *

"Kakashi." 

Turning, Kimura (he was even starting to think of himself by this name) raised his visible eyebrow at his black-haired student. "Yes?"

"I need to start training again soon. I assume you want to keep your sharingan a secret, so...what will we end up doing? Meeting in secret?"

"Probably. For now, though, I'd just suggest working on something else. Maybe even try helping Obito with _his _sharingan. You'd be surprised how much you learn when teaching someone else."

Sasuke frowned. "...Maybe. He did ask me."

"There you go, then. Do that."

Jiraiya, standing nearby, crossed his arms. "Don't tell him where _you _learned, though. If he presses you for answers, say _I _taught you with scrolls and interviews and such. I've a reputation, after all, so no one will wonder about that. Letting slip that you learned from Kakashi will raise questions that shouldn't be answered quite yet."

Sasuke considered this, then nodded. "Fine. I'll do that. But if he gets too annoying, I'm dropping this whole thing. He's just like dobe...and I don't know how long I'll be able to train him if he isn't a quick study."

"Like you said," Jiraiya said. "He's like Naruto. He's a quick study. He just hasn't had a chance to learn from one of the elders. Nobody wants to teach him until he 'proves himself.'"

"Nnh."

He left.

* * *

"So what's up, Sakura-chan?" 

"Wipe that grin off your face, Naruto! This is serious!"

Blank-faced, the blonde raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Did you _hear _Obito? _Itachi! _You know, Sasuke-kun's older brother? He's _here! _In the village!"

"Uh...yeah? So?"

"Naruto!"

"What? He was talking about Itachi crying for a bottle. He's a _baby_ here, ya know? What trouble's he gonna cause?"

Sakura fumed, turning away from her teammate with a concerned look on her face. "I'm worried...what happens when Sasuke-kun finds out? He probably hasn't realized this yet...what happens when he does?"

Naruto shrugged. "I dunno. But I don't see what the big deal is. Not like we can go _killin' _him or something. I don't think the Uchihas'll appreciate that."

"But...but...what if we tell them what'll happen!"

"Who's gonna believe us, Sakura-chan? They'll just think we're nuts."

Sakura took a moment to be disgusted with herself because _Naruto _was being the voice of reason, but still! This was big! Huge! Gargantuan, even!

"But...we...we could do something! We could stop him!"

"Uh-huh...well, when you come up with an idea, you tell me. Was that all you wanted to talk about? 'Cuz my ramen's getting cold."

"Uh...yeah, I guess...but..."

Naruto shrugged. "I mean...unless you wanna take a _walk_ or something...think it over."

Glaring at the blonde, whose lips were curled in the slightest of smirks, she clenched her fists. "Watch it, Naruto. Don't you try _anything."_

"What?" Naruto asked innocently. "Just _concerned, _is all."

"Uh-huh...and Jiraiya-sama _just _conducts research. Try it on someone else, Naruto. I know what you're trying."

"Fine, fine. No walk. Let's go back, then."

She sighed. "...Okay. I guess. I'll just...try to think of something. But don't tell Sasuke-kun! If he doesn't realize it yet, he won't do anything, but if we tell him..."

"He'll do something stupid. Yeah, I get it. Sure."

As they walked back, Sakura thought that if she weren't so suddenly nervous about her black-haired, black-eyed teammate's welfare, she might have actually been impressed with Naruto.

He had his moments of level-headedness. There were times when he seemed wise beyond his years, as if he really had learned something from his three mentors.

"Ne, Sakura-chan...you _sure _you don't want me to take a walk with you? You could rest your head on my shoulder if you want--"

She punched him.

* * *

_Hee-hee-hee...I feel evil. This was for those of you wondering about Itachi...I haven't forgotten about that. So have fun contemplating just what'll happen next...I'm planning a few things that I'm highly intrigued by...who knows? Maybe you will be, too._

_By the way, about Asuma. It's revealed that he is Sandaime's son in chapter 314, and as to Konohamaru...he's either Asuma's son or nephew...I'm thinking nephew. Not sure, though. Makes me wonder._


	7. Training

"Eugh...sometimes I _really _hate that little snot...giggles too damn much. What the hell's so funny 'bout my hair? Didn't feel all 'at funny to _me..._"

Obito shuffled down the main street of the Uchiha District in the general direction of Minato's favorite training ground, rubbing his head and wondering if his oh, so _delightful _baby cousin had given him any premature bald spots, grumbling under his breath as he was wont to do after an afternoon of working around the house.

For other shinobi, a day off meant relaxation, a chance to unwind...but for Uchiha Obito? No such luck. For him, a day off meant home duty, cleaning and babysitting and any number of other such menial tasks that _should _have been long behind him.

So much for _adult responsibilities. _What a crock.

Evidently when the Hokage had told them they were _adults_, he hadn't put thought to the women of the Uchiha Clan, who, despite all that ceremonial garbage about serving the patriarch and rearing the future generations with a _firm but gentle hand_, ran the place with an iron fist that forced said future generations into slave labor.

Obito had a feeling that even his father danced on their strings.

It was extremely disheartening, honestly. He felt like he had no future, like his entire life would be spent not saving the village and ensuring his eternal memory in the hearts of his adoring people...no, it would be spent elbow-deep in soap-choked water.

He wondered if the problem was that his mother kept forgetting the same thing everyone else seemed to...that he had _passed _the chuunin exam. He had lost count of the number of times Minato still referred to them as his _genin _team, and numerous other older shinobi had done the same.

Honestly...what the hell was _wrong _with them? Were they _that _surprised that he had become a chuunin that they didn't allow themselves to believe it?

Sighing as though he were some long-suffering martyr, unaware (or refusing to admit) that the thoughts running through his head were far too melodramatic to be the truth, Obito stuffed his hands into his pockets and fished around, noting that he had some coins in the right and a stick of gum in the left that he hadn't been aware of.

Popping the gum in his mouth, Obito chewed methodically.

"Oi. Obito."

Flinching slightly (his pride did not allow anything more than that), Obito looked behind him to see Sasuke walking up behind him. He stopped. "...Oh. Sasuke. Uh...whatcha want?"

Sasuke slowed his stride when he caught up with the older Uchiha. "Kimura suggested that I seek you out," he said.

"Eh? What for?"

"Training."

"Training? Oh..._Ooh..._I _see_...so you want my expertise, huh? Want I should help you out? Teach you the _ways _of the ninja world?"

Sasuke scowled. "Uh...no. He sent_ me _to train _you."_

"H-Hey! What the...! That's not funny!"

"No...it's not. I wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea either, but I've got no one to train _me _right now, and Kimura said I should train someone myself to further my ability."

"But...but why not one of the academy brats, then! I don't need no training from no _genin! _I learned all I needed!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "...Oh? It seems you didn't learn how to harness the sharingan..._did _you?"

Obito stopped short, eyes widening. "W-Wha...? You mean...whoa, wait, hold on...you're gonna...!"

Sasuke turned his head over his shoulder. "I don't want a member of my clan sullying the Uchiha name by being anything less than elite...so you're going to have to learn to use the power in your blood."

"How long have _you_ been able to use it?"

"A few months."

"Is it...fully formed?"

"_Fully _formed? No. _Mangekyou _is still beyond me. But I don't intend to learn that, anyway. Not anymore. But...according to most members of the clan...yes. It's fully formed."

"_Mangekyou..." _Obito whispered. "I...I thought that technique was just a myth!"

Sasuke shook his head. "No. It's real. And it's extremely dangerous, even to the user. So I've decided not to attain it."

Obito had no reason to believe Sasuke was lying, and so didn't realize the real reason Sasuke had decided against gaining the _mangekyou sharingan..._the reason he barely even admitted to himself, much less anyone else.

"Whoa...crazy..."

"So," Sasuke continued, hands fisted at his hips. "Shall we begin, then?"

"Hell yeah! Let's go!"

Sasuke smirked. "Fine, then. We'll start immediately."

"Awesome!"

Obito was suddenly in a _much _better mood than he had been.

The sharingan! He would _finally _learn it! After _all _this time of trying on his own!

He suddenly thought that this newcomer wasn't as stuck-up and snotty as he had thought...maybe this Sasuke was a pretty good guy, after all.

Naruto would have scoffed and rolled his eyes if he had heard that, and probably would have said something along the lines of: "Sasuke ain't no good guy...he's just trying to show off."

But the point was...he finally had someone willing to teach him!

Suddenly, today felt like the best day ever.

...Even _with_ the headache Itachi had given him.

* * *

Minato scowled. "This is ridiculous. Where _is _that damn boy? I know his mother's a bit of a slave-driver sometimes, but come _on!"_

"I'd venture to think he's with Sasuke," Jiraiya said, and Minato turned to look at him. "Kimura and I suggested that Sasuke train Obito to use his sharingan. They're probably off doing just that."

"Oh. Well...if that's the case, then I guess he won't be around today. I guess that works out well enough."

"So what do _we_ do, then, Sensei?" Rin asked.

Minato rubbed his chin. "Hmmm...well? Let's see...Kimura?"

The gray-haired man looked up. "Hm?"

"You're a jounin, aren't you?"

"That's right."

"Then...how about you help me out a bit today? Kakashi's more advanced than Rin is...he could stand some more strenuous training, and given that you're a Hatake as well, I think you'd be good."

Kimura shrugged. "Fine by me."

"Sakura?"

"Huh?"

"It seems you know some rather advanced techniques yourself, from what Jiraiya-sensei has told me. Rin could learn from you. You guys should train together."

Both kunoichi nodded. "Okay," they said.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "Why the grouping up of trainees and trainers, Minato? This isn't your usual method."

"No, it isn't. But I think, for now, it'll do us good."

"So what about me?" Naruto piped up. "What should _I _do?"

"You, Naruto-kun, come with Jiraiya-sensei and me. Your use of my jutsu is impressive, especially given your age, but your method needs work...using a clone to manipulate your chakra slows you down quite a bit. We need to see about teaching you to do it yourself."

"So..._you're _gonna train me?"

"I made up the move...it stands to reason I be the one to train you in its use."

"Hm," Jiraiya murmured. "I see. So _this _is why you're splitting up your squad today...you want to focus on this."

Minato nodded. "It's foolish to leave him with so much of the jutsu mastered and that crucial part ignored. He's needlessly crippled right now."

"Oh, I agree. You make sense, kid. Might as well."

Minato nodded. "Okay. You all know your assignments. Kakashi, Rin, I expect to see some sort of improvement over the next few days."

"Hai, Sensei," both chuunin replied.

"You know, Minato, it'll take Naruto a lot longer to get this down than a few days."

"True, but we can start. Besides, from what you said earlier, I'm not so sure it'll take him all that long at all. Certainly he'll get it faster than _I _did."

"Let's do this!" Naruto cried, pumping his fist in the air. "The sooner we start, the sooner I'll master it! I'm gonna make _your_ guys's Rasengan look like _nothing!"_

Jiraiya rolled his eyes.

"Can't deny it's refreshing to see that kind of enthusiasm," Minato said. "He's about as spirited as that Gai kid. I told you about him, didn't I?"

"Oh, yes, you did..." Jiraiya muttered. "Sounds like a pain. He make genin yet?"

"Yeah, that's right. I forget who he's training under, but he passed this year. From what I hear, he's shaping up to be quite adept at hand-to-hand."

"Taijutsu by itself doesn't make anyone a good ninja," Jiraiya muttered.

"Huh!?" Naruto asked, incredulous. "But what about Fuzzy-Brows!?"

Sakura gave him a hard stare.

Jiraiya's face remained impassive. "I don't think that's his name, you know. And anyway, as good as he was, he's a rarity. In general, a shinobi should be balanced."

"Who're you talking about?" Minato asked.

"Oh, just some kid we came across near the Wind Country. Very thick eyebrows. Kinda creepy looking. Anyway, never mind. This isn't really relevant."

Minato nodded, and when he turned to say something to his students again, Jiraiya mouthed "Watch what you say!" to Naruto, who nodded with a sheepish grin on his face.

"All right. Let's go somewhere more open," Minato said. "Last thing we need is a bunch of debris."

Naruto nodded enthusiastically and practically skipped after the two older ninja, humming to himself and swinging his arms.

Kimura glanced at Kakashi, and they both headed off in another direction without a word.

Sakura watched them leave. "...Not the talkative type, is he?"

"Kakashi-kun?" Rin asked. "No. He's generally pretty quiet."

"He looks the type," Sakura noted.

"Ever since our squad was formed, Kakashi-kun has been that way. He fights with Obito-kun a lot, but other than that, he doesn't really say much to anyone."

"Sounds familiar. Well...anyway, shall we get started?"

"Sure."

* * *

Sasuke stopped walking in the midst of an open field with three posts in the center of it. Obito looked around, not recognizing the place. 

"Why here?" he asked.

Sasuke shrugged. "Why not."

He couldn't argue with that logic.

"So, uh...how do we start?"

"Tell me something, Obito...how were your grades at the academy?"

Surprised at the question, Obito nonetheless answered. "Uh...not too good. Why? What's that matter?"

Sasuke glared over his shoulder at the older boy. "That's a stupid question. But regardless of that, the answer's good enough for me. I suppose I should go easy on you, then."

Obito scowled. "Hey! Don't take me lightly, man!"

Turning, Sasuke's black eyes seemed to bore into Obito's soul. "Obito...you need to understand something. You're like Naruto; even your commander says so. That leads me to believe that you lack discipline and only fight with raw passion. Is that about right?"

"...Uh...I guess so."

"With a man such as Minato-sama accompanying you on your missions, perhaps that passion is enough. But if you want to be good enough to be able to use the sharingan, then you need to learn that it _isn't _enough. Not in the long run. You may be _like _Naruto...but you're not him. And that means you won't survive long if you don't shape up."

Obito's scowl deepened. "What's so great about him? Sure, he can use Sensei's jutsu, but that ain't much."

Sasuke smirked. "...I have met numerous shinobi in my life that have been able to defeat me, strong as I thought I was. Naruto beat them all. All except one, but that one does not discount the heart of the matter. He is a rare exception to a general rule that you need to understand: passion must be tempered by discipline in order to be effective."

Obito's scowl vanished in surprise. The look in Sasuke's eyes made him seem much older than his twelve years. He seemed..._decades_ older. He realized that, while Sasuke might be younger than he, that didn't mean he wasn't experienced.

Quite the contrary.

"...'Zat right...? So what's that mean to me? I gotta train harder? Is that what you're getting at?"

"Partly."

Sasuke sighed, arms flat at his sides, and looked Obito straight in the eye. "...Sandaime evidently deemed you good enough to rise to the chuunin level, something I cannot claim for myself. But don't think you won't learn anything from me...or you'll end up hurt."

"You tryin' to scare me 'r do you just like hearin' yourself talk?"

A soft chuckle.

"A habit I picked up from...an instructor of mine, I guess. He liked to talk. He talked too much. But that doesn't matter."

"Okay, so...we gonna start training now?"

Sasuke grinned, and it made him look...predatory.

Obito took an involuntary step back.

"...Yes."

The younger ninja flew at him like a hawk, eyes glowing red.

* * *

_Month one down...I'm pleased to see this story being received so well. You guys are awesome. I note that this chapter doesn't have as much humor in it as the previous ones, but...well, it still sets the stage for quite an interesting situation, doesn't it? Sakura training Rin, Minato training Naruto, Sasuke training Obito, and Kakashi training...Kakashi.  
_

_I find it a bit odd that I'm thinking more about the ending to this story than the part I'm currently working on...that's part of the reason it took me so long to write this. I'm very pleased with the way the plot's shaping up in my mind, and I've little doubt that you'll enjoy it as well. I don't know how long this will end up being, but the fact that it has a definite ending makes it a bit easier to manage than my other Naruto fic, _No Longer Alone, _which won't end until the series itself ends...and who knows how long_ that'll _take?_

_Anyway, hope you enjoyed this. 'Til next time. _


	8. The Rasengan's Legacy

A ninja must never show emotion.

There were any number of "rules" in shinobi society that Jiraiya refused to acknowledge, whether it be by intentional ignorance, accidental ignorance, mischievous defiance, or simple lack of caring. And while that rule was one that he, unlike many of his comrades, admitted was not humanly possible, it was one of the very few that he fervently believed in.

At one point he hadn't, and the turning point was a single event that he would never forget, no matter how hard he tried. And as he watched his first student laugh and joke and argue with his second, the son he didn't even know he had, Jiraiya remembered yet again.

Remembered that if he'd only kept his emotions in check, Minato wouldn't have died with a broken heart.

"Sensei...t-tell Kushina...that I love her...and...and that...I'm sorry..."

The sealing had taken all of the Fourth Hokage's energy, and the life was fading fast in his eyes, and it took all of his remaining breath to say those final words...to make that final request.

And Jiraiya had had enough tact in him not to _tell _his prized protégé that his wife had died not an hour before...it just hadn't helped any. His eyes had said it clearer than his voice ever could have.

Minato's last moments were filled with self-loathing. For all the wonderful memories he had given his teacher, Jiraiya himself couldn't even let Minato die in peace.

Holding a body so weak when once it had strength to rival the gods of myth, in that one time above all others when he'd _needed _to live up to his reputation as one of the Sannin, when he'd _needed _all the strength and wisdom and experience he had garnered in his decades as a soldier, Jiraiya had failed.

Failed miserably.

And, as always, it was the ones he loved that were hurt by that failure.

...People wondered why Jiraiya drank as much as he did.

Sighing heavily, the frog hermit shook his head and marveled at his own stupidity. Here he was with the chance to revisit his past, to relive his memories, to remember the greatest moments of his life, a chance God only knew how many people would kill for, and he was dwelling on the ones he wanted desperately to forget.

_You're an idiot, Jiraiya. A Grade-A moron._

And then...he realized just how true that was.

He'd _said _it once...he had a chance to change things. This was the past. There was no reason that things would have to happen that way again.

"I...have knowledge no one else does...I have...plenty of time..." he murmured, repeating to himself the words he'd said the night before.

His eyes hardened.

If Sandaime, Tsunade, or Orochimaru would have been around to see the expression on Jiraiya's face, they would have known instantly what it meant.

And even Jiraiya's hotheaded, generally insane (or _completely _insane, in Orochimaru's case) teammates would have admitted that when Jiraiya had that sort of look in his eyes, it meant only one thing: he was stone-cold serious, and that that was a good thing.

Even they would have admitted that this meant Jiraiya had made a promise. Not just any promise, either. Not the sort of promise that he would break if he found a new well-endowed, scantily-clad cutie to occupy his imagination for the day. Not the sort of promise he would brush off as unimportant if it turned out to be more trouble than he'd expected.

This was the sort of promise that was made in the deepest recesses of his being, in the very depths of his soul. And whenever Jiraiya made such a promise, nothing would stop him from seeing it through. _Nothing._

_Minato...I swear to you. Things won't happen this way again. You won't lose your students this time. You won't lose your wife. You won't have to die. I swear it._

And it was only when he had rooted his feet in the reality of that oath, steeled himself against whatever repercussions that would come from that oath, and gritted his teeth against whatever sacrifices he would have to make to carry out that oath, did Jiraiya allow himself to laugh and joke along with his students.

* * *

"So, Naruto-kun, tell me. Where exactly did you come up with the idea of using a clone for this jutsu?" 

Naruto scratched the back of his head, puzzled. "Uh...y'know, I don't really remember too much about that...um..."

"It was a cat," Jiraiya said, walking up to join them. "He figured out how to rotate his chakra in different directions by watching a cat play with a water balloon."

Minato frowned. "...So...the clone takes the role of a playing cat...I'm not sure I get it."

"It's how he manages to make it into a workable form," the hermit continued, "having a _kage bunshin _both rotate and condense his chakra. He can't do it with a single hand; he needs assistance. So he called on his other signature jutsu."

Naruto frowned, then nodded. "Yeah...okay."

Stepping back, the blonde jounin crossed his arms. "I see...you know, Sensei, it probably wasn't a good idea to let him take such a shortcut. He should have learned how to rotate and condense chakra using only one hand."

"Perhaps," Jiraiya conceded, shrugging, "but I decided to let it slide. It's worked for him so far. Besides, now he knows the way it works."

"In a fashion, but it's still the wrong way to go about it. He's grown used to doing it his own way. Haven't you, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto nodded. "Well...sure."

"And because of that, it'll be harder to learn it the _right _way. Habits are hard to break, Sensei...especially bad ones. You of all people should understand that."

"I'll pretend you didn't insinuate what you're telling me, there," Jiraiya snapped, eyes narrow. "Keep in mind, Minato-_chan_, you're still a brat. I have seniority."

"...Or senility," Minato muttered, and Naruto snorted laughter.

Jiraiya scowled. "You've forgotten your place, kid. I taught you all you know. _Both_ of you! I took you on as my students and _this _is my repayment!?"

"Oh, come now, Sensei, lighten up. If you can't admit that you have plenty of vices, then we need to add delusion to the list. And anyway, this is beside the point. I think we should start over with training Naruto-kun. That way, he'll learn it the _right _way."

Minato glanced at Naruto. "So what do you say, kiddo? Ready to be _my _student?"

The gleam in Naruto's eyes at that offer was not lost on Jiraiya, who smiled slightly. Of course, much of the reason the young genin was so excited at the prospect was because he knew Minato as the famed Yondaime Hokage, the greatest ninja ever to exist. But there was another facet to it, Jiraiya was sure.

Even though Naruto didn't realize just who Minato was to _him_, some part of him felt it. Jiraiya could tell, just in the way they had so quickly bonded, that _both _of them felt a kinship with each other.

Jiraiya seriously considered telling Minato just what had happened, just where he and the others had come from, but he thought better of it. Not yet. The time wasn't right.

Instead, he simply watched.

And wondered if Minato had met the woman who would later become his wife yet. He wasn't entirely certain just _how _far back he'd taken himself and his companions yet.

_Maybe I should try to find her...no. Kushina has probably been warned about me...sheesh. No respect at all in this village, I swear..._

He huffed, frowning again.

It was seriously unfair.

* * *

There was one fundamental difference between Jiraiya's teaching methods and Minato's, and Naruto picked up on it immediately. Jiraiya was like Kakashi, giving only the necessary information regarding the exercise before finding something else (probably perverse in nature) to occupy his time. 

Minato, on the other hand, behaved more like Iruka, remaining at hand in case his student had any questions. He told Naruto various bits of information, from how far to place his feet to the proper crook of his fingers as he molded chakra. Much of what he said sounded stupid to Naruto at first, but gradually he realized that he felt much more comfortable than he would have otherwise by following the man's advice.

He supposed he should have expected nothing less from a hero.

Also, Minato seemed quite at ease as Naruto trained, even though he wasn't making any headway. He was patient, belying his energetic, almost child-like demeanor.

He also employed a tactic that Naruto hadn't expected to do any good, but somehow did: distraction. He told stories, made jokes, pointed out various things in the landscape, any number of things to make Naruto lose focus on the task he was attempting to perform.

When Naruto finally asked why Minato was doing this, he replied, "This jutsu isn't about mind power. I didn't create it through months of contemplation over scrolls and books, trying to come up with the most efficient jutsu I was capable of. The Rasengan is all natural, and by that I mean it's purely physical. Your body knows how to do it; by focusing so hard on it like you want to do, you're breezing right past it. I'm letting your body do what comes natural by distracting your mind."

And strangely enough, it seemed to be working.

"...That stain never _did _come out," Minato was saying now, while straining to suppress laughter, "did it, Sensei?"

Jiraiya huffed. "No, but it doesn't matter. That...incident, as you so kindly call it, resulted in the pivotal scene in my first novel, _which sold like crazy, might I add!"_

Minato, however, was no longer listening. "I swear, the look on his face was absolutely _priceless! _Oh, you should have seen it!"

Jiraiya twitched, groaning with exasperation and pulling out said first novel, reading the scene in question and smirking. "This scene was _so _worth losing one lousy shirt..._and I refuse to let you read it, you ungrateful little snot!"_

"Oh, loosen up, Sensei," Minato said with a grin. "You know you love me."

"Probably one of those _bad habits _I have," the gray-haired Sannin snapped. "_Some _people love drinking themselves into unconsciousness, but that still doesn't make it healthy!"

"_Some _people?" Minato repeated. "You mean, like, say..._you?"_

"I do _not _drink _that _much! I drink until I'm drunk, not until I'm incapacitated!"

Naruto and Minato shared a look.

"It's _true, _damn you!" Jiraiya snarled, but it sounded far too whiny to be taken seriously. "You know, sometimes I wonder why I keep coming back here! I must be a masochist!"

"You still like hanging around Tsunade-neechan every once in a while," Minato said, raising an eyebrow, "so I'd say that's a fair guess. How is she, anyway? Have you heard from her recently?"

"No, not recently. Last I heard, she was still in trouble with the law...imagine that. Imagine the _nerve_ of people wanting the money that they won from her."

Minato rolled his eyes. "Figures. No luck in convincing her to come back?"

"Tch. Of course not. That old bat won't listen to anybody. She's a hopeless case."

He glared pointedly at Naruto, who seemed about to say something. Seeing the look, the genin swallowed his words and nodded.

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," Minato shrugged. "But hey...you came back. Maybe Neechan will, too. Anyway, I think we've done enough training for the day. You look exhausted, Naruto-kun."

"Eh...well...maybe...kind of."

"You've done well today," Minato said with a grin. "I'm impressed. _And_," here he looked at Jiraiya, "since he did _such _a good job, and because _I _was the one to train him today, I think _you _should be the one to get us something to eat...don't you agree, Sensei? Only _fair_...isn't it?"

Jiraiya growled. "...I hate you."

Minato's grin widened. "They all say that."

Whirling on his heel, Jiraiya groaned. "I've no doubt what you want...you know, when you two die from all the sodium you ingest from that slop, I'm not going to your funerals."

"I'm actually comforted by that," Minato replied thoughtfully. "God only knows what you'd say about me."

Jiraiya, who still remembered precisely what he _had _said at Minato's funeral, narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists, all the more determined to never have to say it a second time.

"I'd simply tell the truth about you, kid."

"Yeah...that's why I'm comforted. You have a twisted view of the truth, Sensei."

"Yeah," Naruto added, "just look at what he calls 'research.'"

"It _is _research. You just don't understand it."

"What _I _don't understand is how you manage to write anything down. All _I've _ever seen you do is stare and drool. How that constitutes as _research _I won't ever know. I thought there was more to it than that...like...oh, I don't know..._thinking_."

"I _do _think!"

"Barely."

"Oh, suddenly telepathic now? You just don't understand the artistic nature of my work, you sad, ignorant little man. I think you just need to find a girl of your own. _Then _you'll understand it."

"I _have _a girl of my own, Sensei," Minato muttered. "I told you about her. You've _met _her!"

"Oh, is she still around?" Jiraiya asked, inwardly smiling at the answer to one of his many questions about just _when _he was. "I wasn't sure. She didn't seem particularly interested in you, I'm sorry to say. She kept eyeing me."

"To ensure that you wouldn't pounce on her. People don't take their attention off a predator in their immediate presence, you know."

"Ah, now...you're just letting jealousy take over. No need to be so insulting about it. It's okay. It's my fault. Really. I shouldn't have shown myself. You couldn't hope to live up to my perfection, after all."

"If _you're _perfection now, then I've got even _less _to worry about."

"There's that jealousy again."

"Did I mention that you're delusional?"

"Even if that's true, one of the benefits of being delusional is that I don't believe it."

"...Damn. I hate it when you're right."

"No wonder you're so bitter. I'm _always _right."

"What about that time in the Grass Country when you—"

"_Quiet_, Naruto! I warned you against that story!"

Minato raised an eyebrow, then elbowed Naruto playfully. "Tell me later, huh?"

"You bet."

Jiraiya rolled his eyes.

* * *

_Sorry about how long this update took. Hope you enjoyed it anyway. I'm trying to get myself out of a writing slump. Hope this works. Next chapter will focus on one of the other groups. Probably Sasuke and Obito, but I'm not sure. 'Til then, all. Ja ne._


	9. Various Discussions

As much as Jiraiya might have wanted to protest, it was no secret that Namikaze Minato was the biggest celebrity in Konoha. Everyone knew it. He might not have started off that way, but now he was known and acknowledged as one of, if not the, best shinobi in history.

Minato would have scoffed at that, pointed at various other ninja he considered better than he, but it was the general consensus among the villagers, at the very least. It was all but guaranteed that he would succeed the Third within the next few years. Sculptors had already begun planning the carving of his face upon the monument.

And as proud as she was, it sometimes annoyed Uzumaki Kushina to the point of madness to be the fiancé of such a legendary figure.

And this was why.

"...Must be so amazing! And he's so _dreamy,_ too! That messy blonde hair, those _gorgeous _eyes, and...oh, his body has to be_ perfect--"_

"Yeah, sure, perfect. Yup. Uh-huh. Uh...not to be rude, but you're standing on my porch blocking my way into my house...and who_ are_ you, anyway?"

The girl stopped mid-rant and blinked. "I…oh, how silly of me. I'm--"

"Could you move, please? I need to get these vegetables cooking or I won't be eating dinner until midnight. Thank you. Oh, and if you want to talk to Minato, I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Just go find him. He's probably out training his team."

"Oh-oh, I wouldn't want to bother him! C-Could you just…well…I mean..."

She slammed the door shut behind her.

Kushina leaned against the wall and groaned. "…Minato, I love you to death, but your fans are going to be the death of me. Couldn't you _not_ be so impressive for once?"

"Well, I _could_, but that would be lying."

Kushina jumped up and squeaked, whirling around to see her future husband perched on a windowsill, a wide grin on his face. "M-Minato! Don't _do_ that! I'm not a ninja, you know, I'm not used to people just_ popping_ out of nowhere!"

Slipping into the house, Minato shrugged. "You may not _be_ a ninja, but you're _dating_ one...so you'll need to get used to it pretty quick. Sensei's back, you know."

"Jiraiya-sama?" Kushina asked, raising an eyebrow. "What's he doing back already? Wasn't he just here a few months ago?"

"You know Sensei. Just pops in when you least expect it. Brought some students with him this time, though. Squad of genin. Dunno how he got his hands on 'em."

Walking into the kitchen, Kushina began chopping vegetables for dinner. "He came back to show you his new students?"

Minato took a frying pan from the cupboard under the sink and inspected it. "Yeah, seems that way...is this the pan Rin used on Obito last week? I think I can still see his face. Names're Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Sasuke happens to be an Uchiha with a fully formed sharingan. Naruto's almost got Rasengan down to a science. And Sakura...well, she'll go places. And likely destroy them, too. Is it just me, or are all kunoichi like that?"

"Throw that pan out, would you?"

"You kidding? I wanna keep this thing. It's kind of artistic when you think about it."

"Well, then, take it to your place. I can't cook on Obito-kun's face."

"You didn't answer my kunoichi question. Your family's had a few. Were they prone to excessive violence, too?"

"Minato, honey, I love you, but sometimes you just prove how clueless you really are. _Women_ are prone to excessive violence."

Minato sniffed. "Well, at least I know what I'm getting into up front. Better chance of survival that way."

Kushina smirked. "Oh, just you wait."

Minato returned the smirk in kind. "Bring it on. Oh, by the way, Obito asked after your teriyaki recipe. I told him it's an Uzumaki secret but he won't listen. Offered to pay."

"Sorry. Not good enough. He's a sweet boy, but he's got some sucking up to do after that, 'What's so special? Don't_ all_ women know how to cook?' comment."

"I think Kakashi dared him to ask that, you know."

"He still said it."

"Speaking of which..." Minato lifted the Obito Pan up and looked at it. "Isn't _that _what caused this? I swear, Obito gets himself hurt more often than anyone I know...except maybe Sensei."

"Jiraiya-sama attracts pain like honey attracts flies. He's just lucky he was Sandaime-sama's student or someone would have killed him already."

"I don't know about that, hon. He's pretty resourceful. Plenty of people have tried to kill him, and he keeps coming back. Have you _seen_ his record? It's downright unbelievable. Contrary to popular belief, he deserves his legendary status."

"You wouldn't say that if he were here."

"Of course I wouldn't. He's too cocky as it is. No need to add to it."

"So what about these new students of his? You met them, I assume."

"Yeah. I think you'd really like one of them..."

* * *

For a moment, Obito was certain that Sasuke was using some sort of genjutsu on him. There was no way a genin could move so fast! No _freaking _way! 

Then he was on him and there was no time for thoughts at all. His mind clicked off and his body was fueled by instinct and habit. As he strained mightily to keep enough distance between himself and his opponent, Obito realized the extent of his disadvantage.

Sasuke was able to see through every move, and could plan accordingly. He was literally two steps ahead of Obito at any given moment, and Obito had no way to shake him. Deception was useless against the sharingan.

It went on like a dance, Obito struggling to put up a defense and Sasuke countering it, for several minutes. To Obito it felt like an eternity. This was impossible. No genin could be this fast. Who in the _hell _had trained this guy? Sure as hell wasn't Jiraiya! _Couldn't _be!

He felt helpless.

There was no way to win this.

No way in hell.

"What are you doing?!" Sasuke suddenly snarled. "Is _this_ the worth of a chuunin? Keep up! Naruto was at the bottom of his class and he's_ ten times_ more of a challenge than this!"

Of course, Sasuke conveniently left out the fact that, while Naruto certainly was lacking in the academic department, he was undoubtedly the fastest learner he'd ever seen. Not only that, but for some reason, his body was in peak form, able to withstand more punishment than most _jounin._

It worked, though.

Obito wouldn't stand for being called ten times worse than some genin! Oh,_ hell _no!

Anger shot him full of adrenaline, and subconsciously he noticed that it was getting easier to read his opponent's movements. Sasuke was getting slower. Not by much, but the difference was there. Definitely there.

A grin began spreading on Obito's face.

* * *

"Uh...Kimura-san? What are we doing here?" 

"Just pay attention, Kakashi," Kimura said without looking up from his book. "This may not seem like training, but it is. Now watch them. Closely."

Kakashi looked at him oddly for a moment, then sighed and turned his attention back to Sasuke and Obito. "I'm not sure I see a point to this," he muttered.

Kimura rolled his eyes (well...eye) and snapped the book closed. "Does that matter? I was asked to train you, and that is what I am doing."

"Forgive me if I don't see the validity in that statement. From my standpoint, all it seems you are doing is reading."

"And that, my young friend, is why I am a jounin and you are not. Now pay attention."

Kakashi grunted and looked back.

_Was this really how I acted at this age?_ Kimura thought as he turned a page._ No wonder Sasuke seems so familiar.__ It really_ is_ like looking in a mirror._

He felt like a character in a novel whose author had run out of ideas. Or perhaps liked irony a little _too_ much. Raising an eyebrow as he turned another page, he chuckled to himself.

_A character in one of _Jiraiya's_ novels...  
_  
"Did you see that?" he asked Kakashi.

"Huh? What? Sasuke's counter?"

"Yes. It's an invaluable technique to know. Memorize it."

"How did you even see it? You were giggling over that book."

Kimura lifted his eye and tapped his hitai-ate. "Jounin."

"Right, right. You see _everything."_

"Exactly."

* * *

"You know, Ero-sennin, if Sakura-chan realizes you're spying on her, she's gonna go ballistic." 

"Naruto, you poor, ignorant little fool, have you forgotten who you are talking to? The great Jiraiya-sama does _not_ get caught by _genin."_

"Yeah, but, uh...she's a genin who got trained by..._who_ again? I forgot. Maybe if you show me those _scars_ you got, I'll remember."

"Sakura may have been _trained_ by Tsunade, but she's no Tsunade. Not yet. I have nothing to worry about. _You,_ on the other hand, just may want to watch out. Seems she's teaching Rin some rather advanced taijutsu techniques right now."

"Yeah? And? I think _Obito's_ the one who oughtta be scared."

Rubbing his chin, Jiraiya thought this over. "Hmmm...you may be right. Should we warn him?"

"Sure."

"Yes. We should. The poor boy will be walking straight into a bear trap if we don't. How noble we are."

"Yeah. Noble. You gonna warn Yondaime?"

"He's not Yondaime yet, you know...and no. I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Training. He needs to be knocked down a few pegs. I figure getting himself beaten to a pulp by a chuunin will do the trick."

"Kinda mean."

"Gotta offset the nobility, don't I? Balance in everything, Naruto. There must be a balance to everything. And...well, it'll be funny as hell to see Minato lose to a girl."

_"You_ lose to a girl all the time."

"Tsunade is a _woman, _Naruto. There _is_ a difference. Besides, she doesn't play fair."

Naruto crossed his arms. "I think you're just a sore loser, Ero-sennin."

Jiraiya grinned. "Maybe."

The grin vanished almost instantly, however, and suddenly the Sannin was somber. "Naruto," he said, and the tone of his voice was serious. It was times like this that Naruto had learned he had to listen.

"Huh?"

"I've been meaning to ask you something...regarding Minato..."

"What about him?"

"Kakashi brought this up last night, and it's got me wondering. We notice that you've...taken a liking to him."

"Well...sure. He's a cool guy. And he's teaching me a lot of good stuff."

"Yes, well...you do remember that it was Minato who..."

He drifted off.

"Oh. You mean..._him?_" Naruto pointed to his stomach. "Yeah, I remember. But what good is it gonna do me, getting mad at him? He hasn't done it yet, and besides, if he _hadn't_ done it, Konoha would have been crushed."

Jiraiya's eyes widened slightly. "...Oh?"

"I done some research on that night, ya know. I know what the deal was. The fox was gonna kill everyone. Just what he does. Yondaime had to do something to stop him. He did. I got no reason to hate him for that. I mean, he _died_ for that. What right would I have being mad when _I_ got to _live_. Right?"

Jiraiya blinked. "...I guess you're right. I'm impressed, Naruto."

There was genuine admiration in the white-haired ninja's eyes, and Naruto couldn't help but feel proud of himself. It wasn't often that Jiraiya praised him so openly. Usually it was hidden behind a joke.

"...Minato's impressed with you, too, you know. Told me he was gonna watch out for you from now on. Thinks you might fight him for his title someday."

"...Me? Hey, I wanna be Hokage, but I'm not dumb enough to fight _him _for it. He'd knock me flat!"

"Maybe now...but given a few years...who knows? All I'm saying is _he's_ a bit nervous."

Naruto also noticed that Jiraiya didn't refute Minato's nervousness.

"...Thanks, Sensei."

Jiraiya glanced at him and chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. Don't get sentimental on me. Just telling you what he told me."

He ruffled Naruto's hair.

* * *

"Where'd you learn this stuff, anyway?" Rin asked, setting herself down on a tree stump. 

"Oh, from my..." Sakura stopped herself, remembering that it wouldn't be wise to tell the truth. Then, to cover the fact that she'd stopped herself, she glanced around. "You hear something?"

"Huh? Uh...no."

"Huh. Well, anyway, my sensei, Kimura? He taught me. He doesn't use any of it himself, but he brought me some scrolls. I learned from those."

Flexing her fingers, Rin smirked. "Well, this is definitely effective. Thanks."

"No problem."

Sakura snapped her head up. This time she _had_ heard something. "...Okay, what was that?"

Rin looked around. "I think over there. Probably just a squirrel or something."

"I'm gonna go check."

Silently, Sakura made her way toward where she'd heard the noise that was most certainly _not_ a squirrel. She stopped when she heard voices, and was about to give her teammate _and_ his perverted mentor a sound beating until she heard what they were talking about.

"...That it was Minato who..." Jiraiya was saying.

"Oh. You mean.._.him?"_ Naruto asked in turn.

_Him? Who? What the...?_

"Yeah, I remember," Naruto continued, "but what good is it gonna do me, getting mad at him? He hasn't done it yet, and besides, if he _hadn't_ done it, Konoha would have been crushed."

"What in the name of...?" Sakura whispered.

"Oh...?" Jiraiya replied.

"I done some research on that night, ya know. I know what the deal was. The fox was gonna kill everyone. Just what he does. Yondaime had to do something to stop him. He did. I got no reason to hate him for that. I mean, he _died_ for that. What right would I have being mad when _I_ got to_ live_. Right?"

Now thoroughly confused, Sakura felt any anger at being spied on wash away. It wasn't often that she heard Naruto speak that way, and even though she had no idea what he was speaking of, Sakura still gathered from Jiraiya's reaction to it that it wasn't typical. Definitely not what he'd expected.

She found herself impressed with Naruto, just as his mentor was, despite not knowing the whole story. She remembered something she'd thought earlier, that Naruto had his moments of level-headedness.

Apparently they were getting more frequent.

...Maybe he wasn't such a pain.

"Hey...uh-oh. Our little cherry blossom's gone missing."

"She _probably_ found out what you're doing, Ero-sennin! I _told _you this was stupid! Sakura-chan isn't as easy to fool as you think. There's a _reason_ Baachan picked her as her student. How many students you think a Hokage usually takes?"

"Minato has four now."

"Yeah, well, you said it yourself. He's not Hokage yet. Baachan is. And she still trains Sakura-chan even though I _know_ she'd rather be drinking. Don't that say something? Jeez...no wonder you got so many scars."

Turning around, Sakura smiled, suddenly finding herself in a _very_ good mood.

"...Thanks, Naruto."

When she got back, Rin asked, "So what was it?"

"Huh? Oh...you were right. Squirrel."

* * *

_Sorry about the delay. As I've said in other recent updates, things have been a bit hectic lately. Job-hunting, babysitting, schoolwork, all that. I haven't had time to sit down and think about my creative work for a while. But I'm back now, and hopefully the next update won't take so long._

_ I've recently come to notice something, and it sort of bothers me. I don't know why, whether it's because a friend of mine likes her or because I've been forced to write her into this story, but I'm starting to like Sakura. This bothers me because I've always been a vehement hater of Sakura...and now I'm not? I suppose that could be construed as a good thing...I don't know. I suppose I'll just run with it, see what happens._

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter, despite how long it took to get up. 'Til next time, all.  
_


	10. Surprises, Surprises

"So, Mister 'I'm Too Good to Have Faith in my Superiors,' are you ready to see just what I have planned for you?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "...Fine."

Kimura took a breath and slipped his book into a pouch. "Perhaps it was because Obito was involved. You considered my training exercise to be lazy rather than effective. Was it because you just didn't feel like watching your teammate?"

"It was because you were doing absolutely nothing."

"Ah, but _that _is where you are wrong, my naïve little friend. I _was _doing something, and that something is what _you _were being _tested _on."

Kakashi frowned beneath his mask.

"...Observation."

The frown dropped.

Kimura cleared his throat and continued. "A shinobi must perform his mission to the very best of his ability. You believe this, correct? Well, that is also true of training exercises. I told you to watch Sasuke train your goggle-clad friend, and perhaps you did. But likely not enough. I'm doubting you saw everything you should have seen. And I'm going to determine that now."

Holding his hands before him in the seal of the ram, Kimura was silent as he vanished in a puff of smoke. When Kakashi's vision cleared, Kimura was gone.

Instead, Obito stood there.

"I'm Obito," Kimura said simply, his voice a perfect mimicry of the young Uchiha, "and _you_ are Sasuke. We are going to perform the match that we just finished observing; every move, every blow, every mistake, every success. And we are not leaving this clearing until it is perfect."

Kakashi's eyes went wide.

Kimura-Obito smirked. "Bet you wish you'd paid more attention now, don't you?"

The chuunin's only response was a deep breath.

"Well, Sasuke? Come at me."

* * *

Her training done for the day (Rin had had a previous engagement that she couldn't break), Sakura decided to wander the village for a while. If asked, she may have said that it was simply further training, noting every detail of change that she could find. 

She was just plain curious.

The first major change she noted was that she kept expecting a summons from Tsunade at any moment. The Fifth was a highly unpredictable woman, and held meetings at some of the strangest times.

It took Sakura a while to remind herself that her sensei wasn't here. At this time, Tsunade was nowhere near Konoha, and likely wouldn't agree to train her even if she begged.

The Tsunade of this time wasn't even a ninja.

Not anymore.

Not yet.

The people walking the streets – even the few she actually recognized – looked alien to her. Of course they would. But it was still surreal, and Sakura couldn't really wrap her mind around the idea yet.

A few of the more extroverted villagers waved to her, and she waved back. A few of the more respectful villagers bowed to her, and she blushed.

She stopped walking when she came up to a building she couldn't remember ever having seen, even in her early childhood. It was an imposing structure, to be sure, but the one thing Sakura locked her eyes on was the instantly recognizable symbol atop the sign that named the establishment.

The Uchiha fan.

It was the headquarters for the Konoha Military Police Force.

"This...is it..." she whispered, awestruck.

The building where the best of Konoha had held the law together. A group of shinobi more respected (and feared) than even the ANBU. Soldiers of legend.

The Hidden Leaf's trump card.

She began walking forward, entranced.

It...really _was _the past...

It hadn't hit her until this. Even seeing the future Yondaime and his team hadn't done it. Seeing her teacher, her commander, as a child no older than she, hadn't done it.

But this...this was history.

She bumped into the woman without even seeing her.

She landed on her back, and her _hitai-ate _fell from its place atop her head to where most shinobi wore it, across her forehead.

When she stood, it fell farther, to where her commander wore it, across her eye.

Lifting the headband, she reached behind her head and tightened it, setting it into its proper place.

The black-haired woman smiled apologetically. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't notice you there."

"No, no, I'm the one who should apologize," Sakura said quickly. "I...wasn't paying attention."

"Who's this, Mikoto?"

"Hm?" the woman murmured, glancing back as another woman approached from behind. "Oh, I bumped into her."

The other woman, holding a squalling baby in her arms, grunted. "Will you take this little monster for a minute?"

The woman named Mikoto took the baby from her companion. "Are you causing your aunt trouble again, little one?"

The baby, a boy, giggled. "No!" he declared. "No twubble! No' fwum me!"

"Oh, not from _you_, huh?"

Sakura smiled, chuckling slightly. "He's so cute."

Mikoto adjusted herself so that the baby was situated on her hip. "Yes, he can be very sweet when he wants to be. Sometimes, though...You need to leave poor Auntie alone now, you understand?"

Sakura's smile widened. Tickling the baby's chin (he wasn't a baby, actually; he looked around two years old), she asked, "What's your name, sweetie?"

The baby grinned and proclaimed:

"Itachi!"

Sakura's heart skipped three beats.

Her hand dropped, suddenly deadweight.

Her skin went pale.

Mikoto raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Is something wrong?"

"I...s-sorry. I just...I...know someone named I-Itachi...he...looks kinda like him. Just a...little surprised, is all. It's nice to meet you, Itachi-chan. I'm Sakura."

"Hi, Sakuwa!" Itachi said.

"Well, well, aren't _you _being social today?" Mikoto asked.

"Kaachan!" Itachi said excitedly. "Sakuwa pwetty!"

Sakura, despite her shock and revulsion, couldn't help but blush. She forced a smile back on her face. "T-Thank you very much, Itachi-chan. And you're...very handsome yourself."

"Tank you!"

Mikoto smiled. "Very good, Itachi. That was very polite."

"Po—_wite_," Itachi repeated with added emphasis, nodding for good measure.

"You're...welcome."

Bowing, Sakura said, "It was...an honor meeting you, Uchiha-sama. I'm sorry again for bumping into you."

Mikoto smiled at the woman who was, apparently, her sister. "Hear that? 'Uchiha-sama,' she says. No need for such formality, Sakura-san. We're both kunoichi, after all. It was nice meeting you, too."

She kept her head down.

The other woman frowned. "Wait...Sakura? Yamada Sakura?"

It took her a moment to remember that yes, that _was _her name for now. She looked up. "Yes, madam. I'm Yamada Sakura."

"Oh! So _you're _the young lady Obi-kun was talking about today!"

"Obi...Obito-san?"

"Yes, yes. He mentioned meeting you today. Jiraiya-sama brought you here, didn't he?"

"Yes, that's right."

"I can only imagine why..."

Sakura chuckled. "Yes, well...I don't intend to let him do anything...although he surely has _something _planned."

"Well, you be careful around him...it seems Obi-kun wasn't kidding."

"Hm?"

"Oh, oh, nothing. Don't mind me. You must need to be getting somewhere. Come on, Mikoto. We'd better be heading back."

"Sure."

"Goodbye," Sakura said.

As she turned to leave, she heard the as-of-yet unnamed Uchiha - Obito's mother, probably - say, "She _is _cute. I think Obi-kun might be getting _another _crush."

"Now, now," Mikoto said, "I wouldn't count out Rin-chan just yet. She's a sweet girl, and you know how boys are about their first loves. Obito-kun really does like her quite a lot."

The two women continued talking, but Sakura heard none of it.

She could hardly believe what had just happened.

Her blood ran cold.

Looking down at her hand, Sakura honestly expected it to be bleeding. She had...had..._touched _him! She had _spoken _to him! Had...had...

"Oh, God..."

Hugging herself, she started walking back the way she had come. She needed to be away. She needed to think. What would she do? What should she say? To Sasuke? Oh, _God_, what would Sasuke think? What would he do? How would he...what would he...how would...oh, _no..._

It wasn't often that Haruno Sakura honestly lost control of herself. But this..._this _was...

* * *

"Gotta give credit to your sensei for that one," Jiraiya said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "Quite an effective training exercise." 

Naruto agreed. "Ka—er, I mean, Kimura-sensei's good at that stuff. You think it'll work, though?"

"Kakashi's a smart kid," the sannin said. "He'll get it eventually. But it'll be a long while. Getting dark already. He'll probably be out there all night."

Naruto sympathized. He knew how much it _sucked _to train at night. And fighting against somebody? Sheesh...especially somebody older and stronger than you?

He shuddered.

They passed Sasuke, standing by himself while he surveyed the townspeople still walking the streets. When he noticed them, he silently began following them.

"How was your first day training a chuunin, O Prodigal Son?" Jiraiya wondered.

"...Better than I expected."

"You say that grudgingly."

"I didn't say it was good...just better than I expected."

"What'd ya do?" Naruto asked.

"I fought him."

"That it?"

"Basically."

"Well, that couldn't've been _too _bad."

"So _you _say."

"So...what? Obito suck or something?"

"No...but he's not what I expected. A chuunin...I figured on more of a challenge."

"Well, maybe our _standards _for chuunin aren't as _high _at _this _point in time," Jiraiya said mockingly. "So _sorry _that it didn't _meet _your _expectations_."

"Tch."

"Much as I don't want to admit it, kid," Jiraiya said seriously, "you're better than a lot of ninja your age. Not to mention you've the distinct advantage of being able to use the sharingan against a member of a clan whose entire strength as shinobi revolve around it...something Obito is conspicuously lacking as of now."

Sasuke scowled. "You act as though we are incompetent without the sharingan. Uchiha shinobi aren't so weak as that."

"Perhaps not, but regardless of that, _Obito's_ entire training regimen at the moment revolves around acquiring the sharingan, therefore his skills are...somewhat lacking."

"Nh."

They didn't speak again until they happened across Sakura, who looked extremely distracted. Naruto called out his usual enthusiastic greeting, and instead of ignoring him, or snapping at him to quiet down, or even waving to Sasuke, she simply lifted her head up.

When she noticed Sasuke looking at her, Sakura's face paled considerably, and she bit her lip. "O-Oh..." she murmured softly, giggling nervously, "S-S-Sasuke-kun. Naruto. T-There you guys are."

Sasuke grunted an acknowledgement.

"Um..." She licked her lips nervously as they approached. "So...how'd your training with Obito-san go, Sasuke-kun?"

"Could have been worse."

"O-Oh. That's good. Um...how about you, Naruto?"

"Awesome! I—hey, Sakura-chan? You look kinda sick. You okay?"

"Um...no, I'm not...sick. Um, Naruto, could I talk to you a minute?"

Sasuke and Jiraiya glanced at each other.

"I-I, uh...I've been wondering something...about..._kage bunshin_...and, you know...who better to ask, right?"

Sasuke seemed to accept that.

Jiraiya didn't. "Oh, I don't know, Sakura, how about the one who's been around for _fifty years! _I've been studying and using more techniques than you—"

"You don't _use _that technique, Jiraiya-sama. Naruto does. A _lot_. And that's what I want to ask him about."

"Uh...sure, Sakura-chan. What's up?"

"Um...well...I..."

Jiraiya frowned. "Apparently this is meant to be private. She keeps looking at us. C'mon, Mister Sharingan. Let's go check on that lazy-ass commander of yours."

Sasuke looked at the man oddly for a moment, then shrugged. "Whatever."

They left Naruto and Sakura alone.

* * *

Once alone, Sakura grabbed Naruto by the shoulders. "Naruto! I saw him! I _met _him! Oh, God, what do we do?!" 

"Uh...met...him? Him _who?"_

Sputtering, she finally choked out, "I-Itachi! I _saw him!!"_

Eyes widening slightly, Naruto's face slackened. "Oh. _Him_. Well, what'd you do?"

"I...I...what _could _I do?! I...said hello! He was with his mother, a-and...and...he...he called me 'pwetty!' _Pwetty!"_

Cracking a smirk, Naruto snickered. "Hope you thanked him."

"...Huh?! Wha...Naruto, this is _Itachi! _The...the biggest criminal Konoha's ever seen since...since...!"

"Orochimaru?"

"Yeah!"

"Sakura-chan, why're you getting so worked up about this? Wasn't he, like, thirteen when he did that? How old did he look when you saw him?"

"Um...two...-ish."

"Well, see? It ain't gonna be another eleven years before he goes bad."

"But...Naruto! I...we _know _it's going to happen!"

"Yeah, but like I said before, how we gonna prove it? If he called you—" here he snickered again, "—_pwetty_, I'm sure he's not exactly...mean-spirited. Yet. No one's gonna believe us. They'll throw us out."

"But...but what about Sandaime-sama!? We could tell _him! _Jiraiya-sama could explain the jutsu, and...and..."

"And Old Man Hokage won't do a damn thing. Eleven years, Sakura-chan. Lots can happen in eleven years. He'll wanna wait it out. Maybe he'll watch Itachi closer, but—"

"Wouldn't that be enough?!"

"Maybe. I dunno. The Uchiha clan was huge, remember? Strongest we had. He killed 'em all. By himself."

"But...didn't he do it at night?!"

"Exactly. When everybody was sleeping. Nobody kept an eye on him. You think Old Man Hokage's gonna keep tabs on him for eleven years? Security ain't gonna be tight enough. And we can't kill him now. We'd be killed. Then what? The Uchiha clan's saved? Sure, but I don't wanna sacrifice myself and my friends for strangers...not if I can avoid it."

"So...so...what do we _do_, then?!"

"Said it yourself, Sakura-chan. He called you pretty. He likes you. Make friends."

Mouth opening in shock, Sakura couldn't form a reply for a long, _long _moment.

"You...you're saying" she finally said, "...we stop him from killing Sasuke-kun's family...not by talking to the village...but by talking to _him?"_

"Sure. Why not? Kids're impressionable."

"But...but..."

"I know. You're thinking of the Itachi we know. The criminal. The murderer. How could we make friends with a guy like _that?"_

She nodded weakly.

"How could we stomach being all nice to the guy who ruined Sasuke's life? The guy evil enough to kill his own family just 'cuz he could? He's a cold-blooded psycho. He deserves to die. Why not just kill him?"

Another nod.

"Sakura-chan, I learned a lot about psychos in the time I been a ninja. Big thing I figured out is they ain't just born like that. Something makes 'em snap. People can't be _born _evil, but they sure's hell can learn it. And just like how something makes 'em go cold, something else can make 'em come back."

"How...how can you...?"

"Zabuza. Gaara. Temari. Kankurou. Neji."

Sakura would later think on just how often Naruto had managed to stun her into complete silence in the past few days.

"Gaara especially," Naruto went on. "He was freakin' _nutzoid. _'I exist to kill everyone other than me.' He told me that. Me 'n Shikamaru. Can't get much crazier. He was tryin' to kill Fuzzy-Brows when he was in the hospital.

"But 'member what happened when me, Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru and Neji went after Sasuke? Fuzzy-Brows came to help us out, and when things went bad, who came to help _him? _Gaara."

She did remember.

"First impressions're hard to forget. Damn hard. I know it's gonna be tough keeping the Itachi we know from popping up in our heads when we see him here. But he _isn't _that guy. He's a kid. And if we work at it, I think we can stop him from turning _into_ that guy."

"...Only you..."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"...O-Only you would look at this and...and come up with such a...simple, preposterous, ridiculous, impossible, _brilliant _idea."

A grin spread on the blonde's face. "Really? Brilliant?"

"I...I...don't know how you..."

"Heh...brilliant. Seriously? Wow."

"We _can _do this...if...if we just..."

"Sure we can."

Naruto clapped his teammate on the shoulder, and for once she didn't yell at him for touching her. "Not only are we gonna do it, we're gonna convince Sasuke to do it, too. Much as he's gonna hate it."

"We...are?"

"Sure!"

Sakura had thought for the longest time that Naruto's steadfast confidence in himself was simple bravado. That he had no idea what he was getting into when he dove headlong into danger.

She was beginning to rethink that assumption.

Maybe...Naruto _did _know what he was getting into when he dove headlong into danger...he just didn't care.

And maybe that wasn't bravado...

Maybe that was courage.

Maybe...Naruto's dream to become Hokage wasn't just a dream.

Maybe it was his calling.

Maybe a man who would make friends with an enemy rather than executing him was the sort of man who _should _lead a village.

_Or maybe I'm just going nuts..._

Looking at Naruto now, Sakura couldn't help but draw a correlation between him and Minato. They looked similar, they acted similarly, they had that same steadfast confidence...

And look at what Minato had ended up doing.

It felt strange, to have an epiphany like this. The more she thought, the more she realized just how much Naruto had done. How much he had been able to do that no one else could have.

He had faith in people.

He believed in people.

Even the enemy.

"Let's...go find Sasuke-kun and Jiraiya-sama," Sakura suggested, and Naruto agreed with a grin and a nod.

As they walked, she gripped his hand, squeezed gently, and said, "Thank you."

Looking at her, Naruto grinned again. "We're a team, Sakura-chan. No need to thank me."

Sakura smiled. Was it really that simple?

Apparently, Naruto thought it was.

_We're a team..._

Her smile widened.

Then...

_Wait a second..._

The smile vanished.

_...Obito thinks I'm _cute?

* * *

_As a strong supporter of NaruHina, it shames me to admit that this tale may become NaruSaku in the future. I say future because...c'mon. They're twelve. Give 'em a couple years. But from the look of it, the story's leading me in that direction. That's the strange thing about my work. I can never draw out an outline for anything. Most of my best ideas come while I'm writing others, and if I'm trying to follow a rigid guideline, it just messes me up._

_Sorry if that disappoints you. Those of you who don't like Sakura...well, neither did I. Story's changing my perspective. Maybe it'll do the same for you. I dunno. If it doesn't, then I hope you'll still be able to enjoy the story despite possible developments. And remember that, too. Possible. I don't know if it'll happen._

_And so the plot thickens, ne? I've got myself quite a few little things going on that'll grow in the future, don't I? This should be fun._

_'Til next time, all. Hope you enjoyed it._


	11. Goodbye and Hello

The forest closed in on him as he ran.

The trees, which had always protected him, holding their stout arms upward and providing him cover, were suddenly malevolent, thinking him their enemy.

He wasn't one to believe in superstition...at least, he'd never thought he was. But now, as he strained against his own muscles, screaming at them to go faster, he thought that he finally did.

Every time he kicked off a branch, every time he threw himself forward, every time he ducked and dove and curled to dodge an obstacle, he became more and more convinced that the trees were helping the enemy.

They were keeping him from the village.

From his mission.

Was it possible that the demon lord held dominion over this place? Was the Kyuubi capable of...?

He had no time to think such things. Thinking took too long, took too much energy. He had to _move_, damn it!

The scenery whipped past him like a painting assaulted by a strong wind before it dried. At each turn he wondered if he was going in the wrong direction, if three days without sleep had caused him to forget the way.

He finally closed his eyes and let his memory guide him, send him through that familiar path toward home.

He still had an urge to reach up and rub his eye...or, Obito's eye. It still felt alien, like it wasn't even an eye at all, but a living thing struggling for dominance within his head.

He supposed that was the sharingan.

...A lot of good it had done him so far.

"Ugh!" he grunted, shaking his head. "Stop it, you idiot! _Focus!"  
_  
Ignoring the searing pain in his muscles, he somehow forced himself to go even faster. He had to _move, _damn it! Sensei had given him one last request, one final order, and he was the Hokage now! He would not let his commander down! Not after he had let his teammates down! Not by a long shot!

_Minato-sensei's dying! It won't be long until the jutsu overwhelms him and stops his heart! Move, Kakashi, _move!!

But no matter how fast he moved, it wasn't fast enough. For every step he took, the path seemed to grow. He almost thought again that he was caught in a genjutsu cast by the Kyuubi. Then he realized that he had opened his eyes again and snapped them shut.

Before long, although it felt far _too _long in his mind, Kakashi made it past the main gates of Konoha, none too surprised to find that the destruction had hit the village as well in the time he had been gone, out on the front lines with his leader.

He sped through the broken, burning, familiar streets like a hawk on the hunt, and while he _was _hunting for someone, it wasn't to attack.

He found her quickly enough...

...But it was already too late.

Namikaze Kushina was lying on the ground, a huge chunk of her decimated home's wall having speared her torso clean through her spine, a freak accident made all the more poignantly painful because it _had _been a freak accident.

One without a perpetrator he could persecute.

He fell to his knees, all his hope fading, all the pain and ache and fatigue catching up with him at once, landing a crippling blow to his heart, mind, body, and soul.

Hatake Kakashi wanted nothing more than to just crumple to the ground and die.

It was too much. He couldn't even contemplate going back to Minato with news like this...

...And then it registered in his mind that he more than likely wouldn't be _able _to tell Minato this news because by the time he made it back, the Yondaime Hokage would be dead.

He felt slight comfort in that, and hated himself for that comfort. He closed his eye, bowing his head, and shook, straining with all the strength he possessed to hold back the waves of despair threatening to kill him.

"Kakashi...-kun..."

His eye snapped open, and he scrambled to her side, this strong, smart, wonderful woman who had taken him in like a surrogate mother. This woman who had made the entire world make sense again, after he had lost the friends he hadn't realized he'd needed, and certainly hadn't deserved.

"Yes? W-What is it, Kushina-sama?!" he cried, all but hysterical.

"Shhh...Just Kushina...Kakashi-kun...Just because...Minato is...Hokage now...doesn't change _me..._so no more of this 'sama' business...how many times do I...have to tell you...?"

"At least...one more time...Kushina-sama..." he whimpered, sounding painfully young as he struggled to hold back tears.

She smiled, then. Gently stroked his masked cheek with a trembling hand. "You...never learn...Kakashi-kun..."

"No, Kushina-sama..."

She weakly gestured for him to lean closer. Kakashi, not about to deny her anything, did so immediately.

Her lips gently brushed against his cheek. "Kakashi...-kun...this is it for me. The medics can't...can't...do anything...now...Maybe if...if Tsunade-sama...were here...but..."

She began to cough, and the agonized moan that tore its way out of her throat as she did twisted Kakashi's heart into knots. He would have given anything at that moment to ease her suffering.

"Please, Kushina-sama, don't strain yourself."

"Why...not...? It's not like...it will make a difference. Listen...Kakashi-kun...I know that...Minato had to...had to do it...but...that doesn't...mean I...like it..."

He knew what she was talking about.

"...He thinks...far too much...of the people who live here...he really believes that...that they will view our...our son as a hero...for holding the demon lord inside him...but they won't...I know they won't...so please...Kakashi-kun...do this one thing for me..."

"Of course, Kushina-sama, anything. _Anything."_

"...Protect...Naruto-chan. Please...protect him..."

Kakashi nodded emphatically. "I will, Kushina-sama. I swear it."

She smiled again, weaker this time. "T-Thank you...Kakashi-kun...and...o-one more thing...? Could you...tell Minato...if—" she coughed again – "...if there's still...still time...that I...that I love him...? And that...I understand...? And...g-goodbye...?"

Any thought of keeping the news of his beloved wife's death from Minato now was dashed. Kakashi frowned beneath his mask, but nodded firmly. He would do this.

He _would._

"Sayo...nara...Kakashi...-kun..."

"Sayonara..."

One last smile.

One last pat on his leg.

One last glimpse of her sparkling, joyful eyes.

...Namikaze Kushina died.

Kakashi lowered his head again and felt the tears begin to flow. "...S-Sayonara..." he repeated brokenly.

* * *

He walked the streets with just as much poise, precision, and aloofness as he always did, but inside his mind was a churning maelstrom of emotions that he had feared would rise up again but had hoped would not. 

Seeing Konoha as it had been before the fateful attack that would put the Third back into the seat of power not a single year after the Fourth's ascension, the fateful attack that would bring about the end of everything and the beginning of anything...

...The fateful attack that had robbed Namikaze Naruto of any chance at a normal life.

Seeing _that _Konoha struck the man now calling himself Hatake Kimura like a hammer striking an anvil, the vibrations making his heart race and his lungs contract and his legs go weak.

Outwardly, however, there was no sign.

Outwardly, Kimura was as composed as ever.

When he finally decided to focus on his surroundings again (losing himself in his thoughts – even in friendly territory – was a breach in discipline that he would later berate himself for), Kimura realized he was standing in front of the sole building that he had told himself he _would not _visit. Not yet.

...The home of Uzumaki Kushina.

Turning, he saw her, walking along the path toward that home with a bag of groceries cradled in her arms. She walked slowly, looking all around at the people going about their day, at the various animals, at the sights that had to be as familiar as her own reflection by now but for some reason she took delight in.

Kimura smiled despite himself. As painful as it was to see her again, Kushina – like his teammates – had been an integral part of his life (before the Kyuubi), and though having the long-rooted resignation that he would never see her again be torn apart like this was disconcerting and hard to get through without breaking down, it was still...still...

She was nodding a greeting to a passing shinobi on his way to the Hokage's office and didn't notice until too late that there was a discarded tree branch (likely a child's improvised toy) on her path.

She pitched forward, and Kimura smirked as he recognized one of the defining characteristics of his sensei's partner in life: instead of gasping, crying out, or even grunting in surprise, Kushina growled a curse at her foolishness.

Kimura shot forward.

He caught the bag of foodstuffs in one hand and kept her from falling flat on her face with his other arm. Once she was standing upright again, he handed her the bag.

Kushina smiled. "T-Thank you, sir. Very much."

He nodded his head. "Of course. Are you all right?"

"Yes, yes. Thank you," she repeated.

He nodded again. "I am Hatake Kimura," he said in greeting.

"Oh! Hatake? So...you're related to Kakashi-kun?"

"Minato-sama's student? Yes. Somewhat distantly, but yes."

"I see...he must be surprised."

"I couldn't tell one way or another."

She laughed. "That's Kakashi-kun for you. Ever the model shinobi."

"If I may ask...how is it that you know Kakashi?"

"Oh! I'm..." she chuckled slightly, "...Minato-sama's fiancé. I've known his team for some time now. I'm Uzumaki Kushina. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kimura-san."

She bowed.

Kimura smiled. "The pleasure is mine, Kushina-sama."

That brought another laugh. "I'm no 'sama,' Kimura-san. My future husband is a celebrity, but _I'm _not."

"...I see. Very well, Kushina-sama."

She gave him a look that Kimura found all too familiar.

"Mm...you're an _interesting_ one, aren't you, Kimura-san?"

"Yes. Thank you."

The smile was back.

"Well, I must be going, Kushina-sama. I must speak with Jiraiya-sama. Are you near your home?"

"Yes, yes, it's just over there. Thank you again for helping me, Kimura-san. Go on. Jiraiya-sama gets restless if he's not causing an uproar."

"He likely already is. Very well, Kushina-sama. I shall leave, then."

One last nod and he turned away, hands clenching into fists from inside his pockets.

He wasn't surprised when Jiraiya fell into step beside him.

"...Kid sure picked a winner, didn't he?"

"That he did."

"You always were enamored with her, as I recall. Did widdle Kakashi-chan have a cwush on sensei's girlfwend?"

Kimura smirked beneath his mask. "...I don't know. Why don't you ask _him?"_

Jiraiya smirked as well.

"...I saw her as a mother," Kimura finally said a moment later.

The smirk widened. "Didn't we all...? She'd take in every kid in this damn village – and half the adults – if she could. Always taking it on herself to protect Konoha...I suppose it was so she could stand proud alongside her husband, ne?"

Kimura nodded. "Doubtless..."

"The one thing she wanted," Jiraiya murmured thoughtfully, "was a child of her own. Someone of her own blood..."

"Imagine what she'd think if she found out just _who _that child of her own is..."

Jiraiya's smirk softened to a genuine smile. "...I think she'd be proud as all hell."

"I think you're right."

They walked along in silence for a time.

"So when do you think we should introduce Naruto to his mother?" Kimura asked.

"We _don't," _Jiraiya said seriously, causing his fellow jounin to look at him oddly. "But...I don't see any problem with letting Naruto meet his new sensei's fiancé at some point...do you?"

"No. Not at all. I think they'd get along quite well."

"...I think you're right."

* * *

**_Sorry; I know this chapter is late, and a bit short, and I acknowledge that there may be some OOC-ness in here. But I think it serves its purpose._**

**_ A side note...I have rediscovered the greatness that is Sasuke. Yes, yes, it's not even a marginal disliking or even neutrality regarding everyone's favorite emo-king anymore. Shippuuden, aside from revitalizing the series itself, has shown a light on Sasuke that I haven't seen in a long, long while. And he is now awesome again._**

**_Might be just me. I don't know._**

**_Another note, in response to a recent review...if you decide that one of my characters doesn't stand up to the canon character (as I acknowledge Kakashi just might be in this chapter...but hey, he was still a kid in that little flashback, so it works, right?), please inform me of that. It's a very important aspect to me, that my characters fit their original personalities. But if you do decide to tell me that I've written someone incorrectly, please, please, PLEASE, give a logical argument as to why you believe that._**

**_Every time someone makes a baseless argument, a kitten cries another tear._**

**_Think of the kittens, people._**


	12. New Goal, Old Times

A day off was a rare commodity for Naruto, and given his current circumstances he thought he could afford to take a day off from his personal training regimen, as well as his sensei's.

The reason for this was that, considering where he was, his training wouldn't do much. Sasuke was back and, while he was just as disagreeable and irritating as he'd ever been, he was still _there_.

He threatened Naruto that if he didn't get any stronger, if he didn't make any headway toward his ultimate goal, in the next few months, that he would leave again, and _this _time there'd be no convincing, no second thoughts, no guilt and _certainly _no chance of redemption.

Naruto knew that the Uchiha was just venting.

He came back because he wanted to be back.

No matter _what _he might say.

And besides, with his newest plan, Sasuke could start making considerable headway _now_. What better way to avenge his clan than to kill the man who'd done it, but save the boy he'd grown from? To not lay the dead spirits of his family to rest, to put their memory behind him, but keep them alive and vibrant?

Sakura had been right.

It _was _brilliant.

He cracked a smile as he walked.

Allowing himself a day off wasn't slacking. Considering his current situation, he was _way _ahead of schedule, anyway.

But, no matter how much he convinced himself he could relax, Naruto just wasn't the type to sit around doing nothing. He set out to see if he might find Mikoto and her baby.

He wanted to see Itachi face-to-face without having to fear for his life.

It was a decidedly pleasing prospect.

Naruto whistled while he strolled.

* * *

Sasuke had seen Uchiha Yashiro. 

Sakura had seen Uchiha Itachi.

Kakashi had seen Uzumaki Kushina, and his old team.

Jiraiya had seen Namikaze Minato.

Thus far, though, Naruto hadn't had the good fortune of running into someone from _his _past. He knew, obviously, that he was in the past. He was getting personal training from the Yondaime _freaking _Hokage himself!

But knowing something wasn't quite the same as being directly confronted by it, as any of Naruto's companions could have attested to by now.

Naruto wondered if he would, as he wandered the streets of his village, so familiar and yet so alien. He grinned at the thought.

He wasn't sure who he wanted to see, really. He just wanted to meet _somebody _he knew. Other than, of course, Kakashi...because he wasn't exactly talkative.

He had decided that he would seek out Itachi, but he entertained the thought of bumping into, say...maybe Sakura's parents. Or maybe even Old Man Sandaime. _That _would be interesting.

Maybe he would find Kurenai, or Asuma, or one of the other older members of Konoha's military...like that freaky guy, the one who liked torturing people...what was his name?

Mori-something...

Or did it start with an I...?

Monie...Ibino...Moriki...uh...

Morino! Morino Ibiki! _That_ was it!

Naruto shuddered at the idea of bumping into _that _one. He was whacked, no doubt about it. Just because you were a ninja shouldn't mean you particularly _enjoyed _the work. That was a clear mark of insanity, in Naruto's book.

He'd learned that particular mindset from none other than Umino Iruka, about as gentle a soul as you could find within Konoha's borders.

Not the type one would slap the moniker of "ninja" onto upon first meeting him, for sure. Which probably explained why he was an instructor instead of a working soldier.

_I don't teach you to kill, _Iruka had said once during a lecture. _I teach you to defend. Shinobi are glorified by many of the other villages as tools, as heartless, soulless killers who wouldn't hesitate to kill their own mothers if the order was given._

_But that's not what I want you to be._

_I want you to learn these techniques without enjoying them. I want you to learn what I have to teach you because what you enjoy isn't the idea of killing, but the idea of saving. I want you to fight because you have to, not because you want to._

Naruto had joined the Konoha academy solely with the idea of becoming, someday, Hokage. He had his eye on the position of Fifth, at the time, but now he knew Sixth was the best he could hope for.

Still, he hadn't really put too much thought to the idea that ninja were taught to kill people. That they were raised to use their hands to snuff out life like one might snuff out a candle when it was time for bed. He had never seen another person die, much less seen someone kill, when he entered the academy.

Iruka had put things into a perspective that Naruto could surely appreciate, and now that he had been a ninja himself for a while, could fully understand why.

He wanted to be Hokage because he wanted to protect his home. He wanted to prove to his fellow villagers that he wasn't useless, that he could use his skills (sparse as many people still thought they were...idiots) for the good of Konoha as a whole.

He didn't want to rise in the ranks for power. He didn't go out into battle with the idea of killing other people. He went to battle with the idea that these people, whoever they were, that he had been sent to find (and likely kill or at least harm) had aims to hurt his people, and it was his job, as a soldier for Konoha and for the Hokage, to stop that.

He didn't relish killing other people, like so many thought a ninja should. So many people he had met thought that a model shinobi should love the thrill of "hunting." They should anticipate the kill, because a desire to kill would make them a better weapon.

But Naruto was no weapon.

He was a ninja.

A person.

And he, partly due to his own principles, partly because of Iruka's influence, refused to let go of that.

Once you let go of being a person, you let go of life.

That was what Iruka had taught him.

* * *

He supposed it was rather funny, considering. 

Ironic.

The first person he ran into that he recognized was not Sandaime, or Kurenai, or Asuma, or even a ninja.

It was Iruka.

For some reason, even though he didn't have the scar across his nose that would come to represent him so clearly in later years, it was obvious.

Naruto wondered if it was his hair.

He stopped walking and watched as a group of other children approached the ten-year-old child that Naruto considered a father.

"Oi, Umi!" one said.

Iruka looked at the speaker sheepishly. "...Y-yes, Kazu-kun?"

Something clicked in Naruto's mind.

The speaker, apparently named Kazu, scowled. "Y' still owe me, shrimp, for last week. You done _disrespected _me, ya know...but! Seein's how I'm such a nice guy, I gave you a chance t' _redeem _y'self...ya got it?"

How many times had Naruto run into that same sort? The type who, for some stupid reason, hid their cruelty behind a façade of "generosity," as if dancing around their true words made them somehow better.

He figured it was a rule of life, or some such thing, that people like that existed, no matter where – or _when _– you were.

"U-um...w-well...you see, Kazu-kun...m-my mom said...that I...I couldn't have...t-that much money...'cuz...'cuz...well..."

Kazu growled. "Excuses?! Umi, yer treadin' thin ground, y' little snot! I told you if I didn't have that money _today, _you was gonna pay!"

"But...but I _can't _pay. Mom said."

_"Mom _said? Tch. The hell kinda crap excuse's that, anyway?"

Naruto rolled his eyes.

Idiots.

Sighing heavily, with a long-suffering look in his eye that would have been right at home on Nara Shikamaru's face, he approached the gaggle of goons with his hands in his pockets.

"Oi. _Kazu-kun_."

Kazu turned, spit flying from his lips, and glared at Naruto, apparently trying to look intimidating. "Who the hell're you?!"

"Don't matter. Just thought I'd say you look pretty stupid. Picking on a kid isn't exactly...y'know, impressive."

"_Stupid?! _Who're you, callin' me _stupid_?!"

"Look. Point is, bullies have to be...uh..._strong, _to make any sorta difference. And, uh...sad to say, but you aren't."

"Who you callin' a _bully?!"_

"Again with the cookie-cutter crap. You're a walking cliche, aren't you? You know the answer to that one, jack-wad, so just shut up. How 'bout this, huh? I'm in a peaceable mood. How 'bout _you _and your moron patrol go play somewhere else, leave this kid alone, and _I _pretend like you aren't an idiot. How's that sound?"

"..._Get him!!"_

Naruto rolled his eyes and vanished just as the group of would-be tyrants approached him. He smirked at their bovine faces staring at the puff of dust signifying where he had been.

Reappearing just in front of Iruka, Naruto turned and looked over his shoulder at the boy and winked. Then, in a gesture that had become second-nature for him, he put his hands into the cross seal that called upon his signature jutsu.

_"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"_

Crossing his arms, Naruto watched his clones chase the band of miscreants (he liked that word; one of Iruka's favorite titles for _him_) down the street.

"Almost funny," he muttered.

"U-um..."

Naruto turned.

Iruka was looking down at the ground. "T-thanks...for that. They were probably gonna beat me good."

Naruto shrugged and tapped his headband. "One of a ninja's jobs, kid. Keepin' the peace. You ever have problems with those guys again, you come for me, huh? Kazuhiko Naruto's the name."

Iruka nodded. "Thanks! I'm Iruka! Umino Iruka!"

He held up a hand.

Naruto shook it, and thought that this was _completely _backwards...and just plain frickin' _weird._

"Nice to meetcha, Iruka. So where was you headed before Sergeant Stupid and the Pea-brain Platoon decided to drop in?"

Iruka laughed.

Naruto did, too. That was a good one.

"I was going out to get some vegetables for my mom."

"Yeah?"

His mom...Naruto couldn't help but be confused, hearing Iruka mention his parents like that. He'd been an orphan for as long as Naruto had known him...an orphan since...since...

_You killed Iruka's parents! You're the demon fox!!_

Naruto shook his head, banishing the phantom accusations. That wasn't true. He'd had nothing to do with it. Mizuki was an ass.

"C'mon, then, Iruka. I'll keep an eye out. Your own personal bodyguard. I don't even charge, ain't I nice?"

Iruka's grin reached his ears. He nodded enthusiastically.

As they walked, Naruto realized the same thing that Jiraiya and The Shinobi Formerly Known as Kakashi had realized. Looking at this boy, so excited about having met someone near his own age who was kind to him, willing to take a beating just so his mother could have her vegetables, Naruto made a decision.

It wouldn't happen the same way.

No way in hell.

And that realization made him feel strangely calm.

He had a goal.

He chuckled. Stupid fox wouldn't know what hit 'im.

Iruka looked up at him. "Huh? Is something funny, Naruto-san?"

"Aw, nothing, Iruka-sen...er...-kun. Say...you like ramen?"

* * *

**_I know, I know, it's a little cliche. The whole "save the kid from stupid bullies" thing has been done before. But I just write this story as it comes to me. And this was the scene that came to me._**

**_Hopefully you enjoyed this cliche-ridden installment, anyway._**


	13. Minor Setback

**_Due to numerous requests, I've gone back and revised Naruto's dialogue. I feel that I've kept his personality intact, but have made it easier to read, making less use of contractions and changing various phrases. I apologize for the lateness of this chapter; I hadn't intended for it to take this long. I was trying for quite a while to decide whether or not this plot development should take place so soon in the story...but it's been going on for a while, now, so I decided to do it._**

**_Hopefully you enjoy it._**

* * *

"...Dis is good," Iruka said around a mouthful of noodles. "Dank you..." 

"Ah, no problem," Naruto said, waving it off. "Always happy to spread it around, ya know. Gotta give 'em more business. So, did you get all you needed?"

Iruka lifted the bag on the stool beside him and nodded. "Uh-huh. Everything on my mom's list."

"Cool, cool. Well, looks like you're about done. How about I walk you back home, make sure nobody tries to sneak up on ya?"

The black-haired boy smiled widely. "Okay!"

Naruto hopped off his own stool, tossed some money on the counter, and ruffled Iruka's hair as they started walking. As the boy began chattering about various things, Naruto's thoughts wandered.

_What's this gonna do to the Iruka _I _know? _he asked himself, frowning. _Is he gonna remember? Is all this stuff gonna screw up anything?_

He tried to keep from letting on to Iruka that he wasn't really listening, but that thought – one that hadn't struck him before now – had him suddenly very worried.

_But...Ero-sennin and Kakashi-sensei aren't worried about it...they're doin' the same thing. Talking to people, helping out, doing all kinds of stuff. If this was gonna do anything...wouldn't they be more careful?_

But some part of him seemed to chuckle at that thought. And that chuckle wasn't heartening.

_**...They don't **_**know **_**if this will have repercussions. Your mentors are not infallible. Who is to say they are even **_**thinking**_** of possible consequences? They seem caught up in reliving their own memories...and it is doubtful that they are very levelheaded right now...**_

Naruto wasn't sure if it was the fox speaking in his mind, or just a more pragmatic side of himself. But no matter where the thought had come from, it was probably true.

Jiraiya wasn't exactly a responsible citizen, after all, and no matter how careful he might choose to be in certain situations, this was a time in which his judgment would likely be clouded.

And Kakashi...well...who knew with him?

Naruto pondered this all the way to Iruka's home, trying to figure out just what he should do, or if he should do nothing at all and just have fun with it.

The latter was clearly the more inviting of the two options, but that was just why he was seriously considering the former. It was too easy to just leave it up to his teachers...wasn't it?

But...then, that was what he _should _do, right? They were the elder shinobi. The ones in charge. Was it his place to...?

_**Has that ever stopped you before?**_

Naruto flinched.

...Damn.

Stupid logic.

"...ouse."

Blinking, Naruto came up short and glanced at Iruka. "Huh? Sorry, what?"

"I said that's my house. Over there."

The boy pointed.

"Oh," Naruto said dumbly. "Uh...all right."

A young woman was out on the porch, flipping through a magazine. She looked up as the pair approached and smiled. "You're a bit late, Iruka-chan."

Iruka shrugged. "Sorry, Mom. I...got into some trouble. But Naruto-san helped me." He gestured with a grin.

Naruto chuckled and waved. "Hiya."

"A shinobi...?" the woman asked, somewhat incredulously. "What happened?"

Naruto shrugged. "Bunch of idiots. Pickin' on him for some reason. Didn't bother asking why. Money, I think. I scared 'em off."

"Are you okay?" she asked Iruka worriedly. "Are you hurt, Iruka-chan?"

"I'm fine, Mom. Here."

He handed her the bag of groceries.

She took it, set it aside, and knelt down to hug her son. "Why didn't you tell us people were picking on you again?"

Iruka, clearly embarrassed, nonetheless returned the hug. "I...I didn't want you and Dad to worry. It's okay now, Mom."

Naruto smiled.

"Don't worry," he said. "Anything happens again, I'll set things right. That's what I'm here for."

Iruka's mother returned Naruto's smile. "Thank you so much."

"No need for that. Ninja are here to protect the village. Some of 'em look at that as keeping enemy ninja away from us by going on missions all the time. I think it's more personal than that, y'know? I mean, if we don't keep the village worth protecting, then there's no point. So we gotta keep the stupid people in line when they think they can do whatever the hell they want."

"...I like that. Well, thank you very much, Naruto-san. I really appreciate it."

Naruto nodded in acknowledgment. "Thanks. Glad to see I'm appreciated." He grinned widely. "Well, I'm off. Got some training to do."

"Are you sure you have to leave? We owe you _something _for this...at least stay for dinner?"

"I...well..."

There was something in the woman's eyes...something...something he couldn't place. He blinked, and a sudden, striking thought came to him.

"I...thanks a lot, but...but I...I gotta go. Rain check?"

"Come by anytime."

"Yeah!" Iruka said happily.

He chuckled nervously and nodded. "Thanks a lot. I'll, uh...see you guys later. Take it easy, Iruka-kun."

He turned away.

"Mom!" he heard Iruka say from behind him, but he barely heard it. "I think I wanna go back to the academy!"

"Really?" his mother asked. "Changed your mind?"

"Yeah, I did. I think..."

Some distant part of him noted the irony of the scene taking place behind him, but most of Naruto's mind was locked on a single thought, a single question, and it seemed to take over him like a fever.

If _Iruka's_ parents were alive in this time...

_...Then what about _mine?

* * *

"Seems he met Iruka's mother today. He left looking quite preoccupied." 

Jiraiya shrugged. "No surprise there. Probably trying to wrap his mind around it. Iruka's parents have been dead as long as he's been alive...he knows that, too. He knows _why _they died, too. That might be part of it."

Kimura frowned. "Hmmm...guilt, you think?"

"It's possible."

"Are you _sure _this was a good idea?"

"Doesn't matter _now,_ does it?"

"He's had enough to worry about lately. He doesn't need misplaced guilt on top of it. He may be a ninja, but he's still a child."

"Far as I'm concerned, so are _you_. I know that, Kakashi, but I also know that Naruto's smarter than he acts, and he should know that feeling personally responsible for what the Kyuubi did is misguided and pointless."

"_Should. _Yes, and we _should _tell Sandaime about certain events, not the least of which being that a certain _student _of his will end up quite a large problem in a few years. Just why _haven't _we, by the way? You're the one who said we should use our knowledge to change things, aren't you? So what about Orochimaru?"

"Just walking up to the old man and _telling _him isn't going to be enough. He trusts me, yes, but enough to denounce one of his prized students before he's been proven to have done anything yet? I don't think so. Just take things slow, would you? Do what Minato asked you to. Keep that up for a while, and keep an eye out. We'll handle this all, but we have to be careful about it or no one will take us seriously."

"That sounds like an excuse to me."

"Slap whatever label you want on it; it's what we're gonna be doing. Now come on. Hurry it up."

Kimura started to say something else, but stopped. He simply shrugged, and followed the hermit.

It was no use, anyway.

* * *

"Rin, Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura...where _are_ Naruto and Obito?" Minato asked, crossing his arms. 

"I can't speak for Obito," Jiraiya said, "but it seems Naruto ran into a bit of a situation earlier. It's been dealt with, and he should be here soon."

"Situation..."

"A minor setback. Nothing major."

Minato nodded and turned away. "Fine. Do you two have _any_ idea where Obito is?" he asked Rin and Kakashi.

"I went to his house earlier this morning," Rin said. "If I had to guess, I'd say he's doing chores. Mikoto-sama told me that he's been slacking, and his mother's getting irritated about it."

Minato sighed. "For once, I agree with Obito on his mother's methods...when I specifically ask for him, I expect him here. I'll have to have a talk with them about this..."

"Well, sometimes he uses your authority as an excuse to get out of things, even when you haven't actually asked for him," Rin pointed out.

Minato grunted. "It makes no difference if she doesn't believe him. When I call for one of my soldiers, he is to be _here._"

"Obito is late almost every time you call us," Kakashi pointed out dryly.

"When the summons deals with an impending mission, he is – at most – five minutes late. Two hours is absolutely ridiculous."

"So go get him," Kakashi suggested.

"Why haven't you done that already?" Jiraiya wondered.

"I kept expecting him to be here in the next couple minutes," Minato grumbled as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and started off toward the Uchiha District. "Sensei, you're in charge 'til I get back. If Naruto doesn't show, go get him, too."

Jiraiya smirked. "Of course. As you wish."

Minato turned his eyes back and gave his teacher a stern look. "Don't. I'm not in the mood to play psychologist today."

"Fine, fine. I'll be good. Go on."

Minato nodded.

A flicker of movement, and the man known as the Yellow Flash was nowhere to be seen.

"Show-off..." Jiraiya muttered.

* * *

"Hey, look. There's Naruto. Hey, Naruto, what took you so long?" 

Kimura noted the backward nature of the scene unfolding before him, and he almost laughed. This time, Sakura was the one calling out to Naruto, while Naruto was the one ignoring her. He half-worried that he would walk straight past her to his rival and call him, "Sasuke-kun."

Naruto looked up, though, gave a haphazard grin that showed he really wasn't paying attention, and said, "Hey, Sakura-chan."

Kimura glanced at Jiraiya. That glance said, "Told you so."

Jiraiya frowned. "Oi, kid. You look like you just ran out of ramen. Something's on your mind. Spill."

"Uh...yeah, there is, actually...I, uh...could I ask you a question, Sensei?"

Something about the tone of Naruto's voice unnerved both his teachers. It was too young. He sounded nothing like usual; he sounded like a child.

A lonely, nervous child.

Jiraiya's frowned deepened. "Uh...sure, Naruto, sure. C'mon. Come with me."

Kimura watched the pair leave, and when Sakura started to ask what was wrong, he held up a hand to stop her from following.

"Let them be," he said.

It was clear that she was worried. Even Sasuke seemed halfway concerned.

Yes...this was entirely backward.

It was almost comical.

* * *

"Mom, I gotta _go! _Sensei told me to meet him _two hours ago!"_

"Of course he did. And if you'd actually done what I asked of you _when I asked_ instead of complaining, you'd have been there already."

"Mom, you can't _do _this! What if it's a mission? What if they left without me? What if they're _dead _because I wasn't—"

"Obito...will you just _do _it?"

"Mom, he's _two! _What the hell's he gonna learn?!"

"Fugaku-sama apparently thinks he'll learn _something _from it. So just do it, all right? You're the one complaining about being late."

Obito groaned and ran his hands irritably through his hair. "If it's a mission, Sensei's just gonna have me send him back. And if it's for training, I can't be playing _babysitter!"_

Looking at the expression on his mother's face, Obito realized it wasn't going to work. Sighing again, this time in resignation, he shook his head at the futility of it all and stomped over to his little cousin, snatching his hand.

"Let's go, runt."

"Yay! We go now! Go now!"

"Yeah, yeah, we go now...c'mon."

Obito began stalking over to the door and didn't realize someone had entered the room until he bumped into him.

Itachi blinked up at the blonde man who had suddenly appeared in front of him, then looked curiously down at his cousin, tugging at his headband, and laughed.

He looked back up at Minato, still laughing, and walked deliberately into his leg, pitching himself backward onto his back. Finding this particularly hilarious, he began laughing all the more.

Obito glared at the boy. "Ha, ha...funny stuff, kid. Funny."

"Funny!" Itachi agreed.

"...Care to explain yourself, Obito?"

Obito squeaked, looked up, and flinched when he realized who he'd bumped into. "Uh...h-hi, there, Sensei...uh...I was...just leaving?"

"Uh-huh...I'm sure."

Minato lifted his gaze to Obito's mother. "I was told that the reason for Obito's tardiness today was due to duties around his home...is this true?"

She nodded. "Partly, yes."

"Partly...so if he hadn't been held up by these things, he would have heeded my call sooner."

"I'm sure that would have been the case."

Minato frowned and nodded. "I see. Well, I will have to assume that the reason Obito was obligated to perform whatever tasks you asked of him today was because he was lax in them the first time."

"Perceptive."

Minato's eyes hardened. "Be that as it may, I do not appreciate one of my men being held back from answering my summons due to something as paltry as household chores. It may be that he deserves punishment for having a lack of discipline, and indeed he should have done whatever it is you asked of him sooner than now. However, Uchiha Obito is a soldier in Konoha's military. When I need him, I need him. His obligation to his clan does not -- despite beliefs to the contrary, I'm sure -- take precedence over his obligation to the village as a whole."

Obito half-expected his mother to blow up at the blonde jounin, but blinked in surprise when all she said was,

"...I see."

"I apologize for my intrusion into your house," Minato said, bowing curtly, "and for my abruptness. But I have little time; Sandaime-sama has called on my squad for a mission in three days' time, and has explicitly asked that we be in peak form."

"I see. In that case, I apologize. I was under the impression that he was lying. He is...wont to do that on occasion."

"One of his teammates mentioned that. I'll have to...work on it."

Obito flinched again at the look his commander gave him. He looked down at his lap, sighing. Itachi was still giggling, imitating his cousin's position.

"I wonder, since you are here...the clan head has asked that Itachi observe Obito's training today...I suppose to expose him to it, before he enters the academy in a few years. Would that be a problem?"

Minato glanced down at the boy.

Itachi looked up at him. "Hewwo, bwondy man!" he said happily.

Despite himself, Minato chuckled. "Hello. So...your father wants you to come with Obito today, huh?"

"Me go! Me go!"

"I see...very well, then. Let's go. Quickly now."

Obito got up, cast a sheepish glance back at his mother (he wanted to tell her, "Told you so," but didn't dare), and followed his teacher, grabbing hold of his cousin's hand out of pure habit.

"Bye-bye, Auntie!" Itachi said.

"Behave yourself, Itachi-chan."

"I behave! Behave good!"

"Good. I'll see you later, sweetie."

"See way-ter!"

And they left, to what they all three believed would be a perfectly normal day of training.


	14. Just Not Right

_**Due to conflicts with the canon series, all references to "Kazama Arashi" have been changed to, and should be read as (in case of a mishap), "Namikaze Minato." Also, all references to "Uzumaki Aiko" have been changed to "Uzumaki Kushina."**_

_**It's a shame, really. I liked Aiko. But, rules are rules. So, I've gone back and changed the names of Naruto's parents.**_

_**I apologize for the huge delay, but I just couldn't get this out. Sorry if anyone thought I'd given up on this; I haven't. Enjoy this next installment, and have fun. I did.**_

* * *

It was a shame, really. 

Of course, Minato didn't know – and had no way of knowing – what would happen as a result of his allowing Obito to take his young cousin with them that day.

It was an innocent enough request, after all. Minato wasn't exactly sure what Uchiha Fugaku expected little Itachi to learn from watching his cousin's team, and wasn't exactly sure if he approved of the idea considering just _how _little Itachi was, but nonetheless he was unable to actually pinpoint a concrete reason _why _it would be a bad thing.

Itachi would join the shinobi corps eventually, after all, and knowing the Uchiha, probably sooner than most would consider proper. It really wouldn't be too surprising to the blonde jounin to see Itachi enter into the academy in a scant two or three years. After all, Kakashi had _graduated_ when he'd just been a few years older than the boy shuffling alongside Obito.

But, that was the way with the noble clans, he figured. The younger, the better. The Uchiha made a habit, it seemed, of tossing their youth into the world of ninja from their first breaths. He had a sudden image of an Uchiha clan member cutting the umbilical cord of a newborn with a kunai rather than a physician's scalpel, just for the principle of it.

So yes, it seemed innocent enough. Well...maybe _innocent_ wasn't the best word for it, but it was expected. It was just how the Uchiha clan worked. And although Minato had some ideas as to changing that eventually, he certainly hadn't the influence to do it now. He was an up-and-comer. He wasn't a _real _leader just yet.

He had no way of knowing that if Jiraiya had been in the immediate area, he very well might have had a heart attack at the prospect of allowing Itachi to meet his cousin's team and their new friends.

The results, Jiraiya might have assured his protégé in that event, would be nothing short of cataclysmic.

And so, Minato, his student, and a two-year-old child, continued to walk headfirst into the Apocalypse.

* * *

As it was, Jiraiya was tied up in another situation, one that unnerved him quite a bit. Naruto seemed nervous, jittery, distracted. In other words, the polar opposite of everything he had come to expect from the young genin. 

Naruto always put on a confident face, regardless of the situation. If it dealt with anything he deemed important, Naruto was as focused as any shinobi before him. And if it dealt with anything he _didn't _deem important, he was not lax in letting his opinion be known, and most assuredly never shuffled his feet and flickered his eyes at everything _but_ Jiraiya as if searching for the words to explain his predicament.

Jiraiya normally would have ordered the brat to get on with it, but had an idea that this was an immensely serious subject, and to treat it so trivially would be stepping over a very delicate line.

He crossed his arms. "I can see something heavy's on your mind, Naruto," he said. "What is it you wanted to ask me?"

"Well...I...I, uh..." he began, then drew in a deep, frustrated breath and ran his hands haphazardly through his hair. "I wanted to...to know something, Sensei."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What?"

"Well, it's just...I...this is a long time ago...right? I mean...stuff that's happened in our time...well...hasn't had time to happen yet...sorta...well, I just...I wanted to know if you...knew where someone...some people...are. Y'know, if they...if they're around."

Suddenly, Jiraiya had a very clear idea what was this about. It should have come to him sooner, as soon as he'd realized that Naruto had run into Iruka and had met his mother.

His mother.

Of course.

"I know just about everyone who lives here, kid," Jiraiya said. "Who is it you're looking for?"

Naruto looked up at him, and again the hermit was unnerved by just how vulnerable, how young, Naruto looked. It was as if thinking about his parents had put him back into the mindset of a five-year-old, too scared to go or be anywhere without Sandaime or at least some other adult to accompany him.

"I wanted to know if...you knew where my...mom and dad are..._who_ my mom and dad are..."

Well, there it was.

Despite knowing that it was coming, Jiraiya had to scramble for an answer.

He still wasn't comfortable with the idea of letting Naruto know.

In retrospect, he wasn't even sure _why_ he was uncomfortable with the idea, only that he was. And Jiraiya, just like so many other people who knew him, trusted his own gut instincts.

And those instincts told him that it just wasn't a good idea.

Not yet.

"Uh...y'know, Naruto, I...I'm not sure how far back we are. So I'm not exactly certain where...where they'd be. But I do know who would. Tell you what, kid. I'll ask the old man next time I see him."

"Old man...Hokage? He knows?"

"He would."

Naruto frowned. "But...but if he...if he knew who they were...then...then why wouldn't he...tell me?"

"Maybe he thought you weren't ready to know that yet, Naruto," Jiraiya said. "He's always been the sort to never dwell on the past, you know. You have a family _now,_and he probably just wanted you to focus on _them,_ instead of...well, you know. Chasing ghosts."

Naruto nodded distractedly, but it was clear that that answer didn't satisfy him. "Maybe..." he mumbled. "I...I just wanna see them. Just...just so I know...what they look like...you know?"

"I'll make sure to ask him," Jiraiya assured. "'Til then, just focus on what we're doing here. You're training with the Fourth himself. That's no small thing. So how about we go back, huh?"

Naruto brooded on this for a long moment, then looked up at Jiraiya and forced a grin on his face. "Yeah. Sure. Thanks, Sensei."

Naruto went back in the direction of the training ground, leaving Jiraiya behind.

And as he walked back, Jiraiya had to wonder yet again the exact reason he wasn't letting Naruto know just whose legacy he carried. Just who his family really was.

And why he wasn't letting Minato know, too.

He never ignored his instincts...but sometimes he questioned them.

* * *

Sakura couldn't help but wonder just what in the _hell_ was wrong with her, but nonetheless found herself sighing with relief when Naruto came back with that same dopey grin on his face. 

It just...hadn't looked right, seeing him before.

But even though she was glad to see him smiling again, she noticed something...off about it. He still looked distracted. He still looked troubled. Like he was trying to come to grips with something.

She wondered what he'd had to ask Jiraiya about that was so urgent, and so private, but knew that it wouldn't do any good to ask. He wouldn't answer, and worse, it felt like a breach in loyalty. Like he'd never forgive her if she did.

She asked herself, and got no answer, why that bothered her as much as it did.

The smile was fake. No matter what it was that he was thinking about, it was clear that his smile wasn't real. Wasn't right. He wasn't happy.

But he wanted everyone to think he was.

Why hadn't she ever noticed before?

She tried to think back, think of how many other times he had worn that same fake smile, and was struck with a sharp pang of guilt when she realized that she couldn't remember.

But somehow, she knew that this smile wasn't new to Naruto.

She looked at Sasuke and thought that he knew it, too.

He'd probably known it for a long time.

She balked when she realized that she wanted to comfort the blonde, and affirmed her earlier thought that there was something seriously, seriously wrong with her.

But before she could think anymore about any of that, her mind went completely blank when she saw Minato coming back.

And more importantly...when she saw the pair following him.

* * *

His teammates wondered if Sasuke had yet realized if his brother was alive at the time they currently inhabited. They wondered if he had entertained the idea. They wondered how he would react if he found out the truth. 

Sasuke knew, upon seeing a member of his family alive, that Jiraiya's jutsu had sent them – at the very least – four years back.

He knew, upon seeing the Fourth alive, that the jutsu had sent them at least twelve years back.

That the Fourth had not been officially instated as Hokage added another year to the total.

As of yet, however, he hadn't been able to determine the exact year.

If he had known, as Naruto knew, the year that Ichiraku Ramen had been established, however, he would have known at the very least that Itachi was alive.

Ichiraku Teuchi first opened his business in the same year that his daughter, Ayame, was born.

Itachi had been born that same year.

He was still sorting everything he knew in his head, trying – albeit with no real urgency – to determine just _when_ he was, when the answer presented itself, crying out a joyful "Hewwo!" as it rushed up to meet the group, so vastly removed from any image Sasuke had ever had of it that he didn't recognize it.

Thus, Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi came face-to-face with each other for only the second time since Itachi had single-handedly decimated their entire clan.

And neither recognized the other.

* * *

Minato scanned the group and nodded as Jiraiya and Naruto finally joined them. "Good!" he said, clapping his hands together, mostly for effect. "We're all here. Finally. Sandaime has given us notice of a mission in a few days, and I expect to see some improvement in you three before we leave. Sasuke, Sakura, Kimura, if you wouldn't mind assisting my students in this matter? They seem to be doing well with you." 

"Understood," Kimura said idly.

"Yes, sir," Sakura said with a slight shake in her voice as she bowed.

"Right," Sasuke put in.

"Mm," said Kakashi.

"Hai, Sensei." Rin nodded her head.

"Gotcha," Obito said, removing his hand from his cousin's grip, relieved that his commander would apparently be in charge of keeping an eye on him.

After all, training was serious business.

Not to be ignored for any length of time, Itachi took the opportunity to mingle. He shuffled up to Sakura, the only person of the group other than Obito and the "bwondy man" that he recognized, and said hello.

"U-Uh...hello again," Sakura said nervously.

Rin, of course not aware of the delicacy of the current situation, asked the dreaded question.

"I don't think we've met before. What's your name, little one?"

"S'my cousin," Obito muttered. "Don't think you _have_ met 'im before. Well, go on, runt. Introduce yerself, since you're so social today."

"Hewwo!" Itachi said, flopping forward in a haphazard bow that caused Rin to laugh. "My name Itachi! What yours?"

* * *

Had anyone been looking directly at him the moment Itachi said his name, they would have seen a torrent of emotions pass through Sasuke's eyes that could be likened to nothing less than a hurricane. 

Shock, rage, terror, hate, love, betrayal, _everything_ passed through him at that moment, and he felt as though he were caught in the dreaded Tsukiyomi technique, despite the fact that the eyes currently commanding his attention held no trace of crimson, nor any trace of anything Sasuke attributed to the man who had ruined him.

This was it.

This was the center, the essence, the nexus of everything Sasuke hated. Everything he had spent the last four years straining to overcome, to bury, to crush into nothingness.

Here was the end of his ambition.

Here was the pinnacle of his goals.

Here was the culmination of his despair.

Uchiha Itachi, that tall, dark, imposing figure, that blood-eyed demon, that soulless monster, had taken Sasuke's trust and shattered it. Uchiha Itachi had taken Sasuke's life and crushed it.

Sasuke had lost once to his brother, and had sworn that the next time would be different. He had vowed that he would kill Itachi the next time they met, and bury the sacrilege done to his family in its instigator's blood.

And yet...

This...this was...

Even in his earliest memories, when Itachi had been all that was right, when he had idolized the man as a god, he had been tall. Strong. Proud.

Sasuke had always looked up at his brother, had always been the lower of them. Had always been inferior, weaker, less important. Itachi had always been the elder, the wiser, the _better_, of them.

And now, Sasuke looked _down_, and saw not the proud figure of his youth, nor the wretched figure of his present...but something altogether different.

And yet...still he could see him.

It_ was_ Itachi.

But it _wasn't._

But it _was._

But it _couldn't_ be.

But it _had _to be.

This and everything else passed through Sasuke's mind in the span of a few seconds, and only his training kept this maelstrom from showing on his face.

Still, Kakashi – Kimura – saw him, and saw his thoughts.

"Calm..." the jounin whispered.

"I...I'm fine," Sasuke murmured under his breath. "I'm...okay. It's no...nothing."

He couldn't remove his eyes from the boy, couldn't shift his focus. The child commanded his every thought, his every emotion. He barely managed to remind himself to blink.

When the boy turned to him, and squeaked out a cherubic greeting, he even managed to grunt a somewhat affirmative reply. Satisfied to have been acknowledged, Itachi turned to the young Kakashi next.

Sasuke's eyes followed.

Behind his back, hand slipped into the pouch cinched at his waist, he idly stroked the blade of a kunai with his thumb.


	15. Monumental Failure

_**So, contrary to popular belief, I am not dead. Neither, as it turns out, is this story. Now, before we begin, I'd like to say something. I've read a couple outside reviews from a forum, and it has come to my attention that this story doesn't quite appeal to a lot of people. I can dig that; to each their own.**_

**_I'd like to say, however, that this story isn't meant to be taken especially seriously. It has its serious moments, of course, but I started this primarily on a whim, and I want you to treat it the same way I do: a fun little "what-if" scenario or six. _**

_**So...yeah. There you have it. Have fun, people. That's what this is for.**_

* * *

Naruto went stiff, and suddenly all thoughts of his parents flew from his mind like a bird sent away by a loud noise. His eyes flicked instantly to the child as he shuffled forward, and suddenly Naruto understood what Sakura had been talking about.

He had played it off as unimportant, had put forth the idea of playing with the past and trying to _befriend _this tiny little toddler, to show him the error of what would become his ways, and it had seemed like such a good idea.

Hadn't it?

Oh, but that was the nature of ideas that _seemed _like good ones, wasn't it? They always seemed to end up shallow in the end, like hollow caricatures when you took them out of the fathomless shadows of the might-have-been and actually examine them as truth.

And Naruto understood what Sakura had felt.

And, in a way, he understood what Sasuke felt.

He remembered the man in the black cloak, that man that was untouchable, when he heard the name. Hearing that name, from its owner's own voice – despite that voice being so incredibly removed from what it should have been – brought forth every image of Uchiha Itachi that Naruto had ever seen.

And they frightened him to his core.

He thought about what the man he knew had done, thought about everything that bloody legacy held for his village – and his friend – and couldn't believe his own stupidity.

What the hell had he been _thinking?!_

Looking at Sasuke, looking at the horrible emotions on his face that he tried to mightily to hold in, Naruto couldn't even _try _to think about telling the young Uchiha his idea. It just couldn't happen.

Sasuke was trying, harder than anyone could have understood, to hold it all back, and Naruto thought that he was succeeding with most of them, but to him, seeing it was easy.

So hopelessly easy.

Every flicker of thought, every spasm of pain, Naruto saw as clearly as if God had taken a pen to the genin's face and written them all down. And Naruto tried to think about what it would feel like, seeing such a thing.

He tried to think of what _he _would do, if someone went to him and told him to make _friends _with the Kyuubi, because it would all turn out for the best.

The idea almost made him laugh.

And was Itachi not Sasuke's Kyuubi?

Was the internal battle Sasuke waged right now so different from Naruto's own, whenever he felt that damnable heat within his veins, snarling and snapping and raving against him to be let free?

Naruto imagined what it would have been like if the Kyuubi's attack had been later. If he had been given the chance to have a family before the fox had taken it from him.

He tried to think of his parents, those phantom visages that felt so close to him now but still untouchable, and tried to imagine what it would have been like to have heard their voices, to have had their comfort, to have felt their touch.

Tried to imagine that achingly sweet, soothing presence, that feeling that he attributed to all those times Iruka had taken him out for ramen even after yelling at him.

He tried to imagine having that, for so many years, and to have it taken away. And even in the abstract, it made his heart constrict with such painful intensity that he nearly fell.

He really _didn't _understand Sasuke's pain.

He had tried so long to tell himself that he understood enough, but did he? Did he really understand what Sasuke saw right now, as Uchiha Itachi wandered around the training ground, piping hellos and introductions to everyone in the hope that he'd get some sort of response?

Did he really understand what it meant to see such a horrendous image? A child, that most innocent and guileless of things, irrevocably tainted and blackened by a past that hadn't even happened yet?

No. He didn't.

And he was a damned idiot for thinking he could.

* * *

He couldn't help but think that every happy moment he had managed to salvage in this experiment of Jiraiya's had been tainted in some way by distraction.

The man who called himself Kimura was known for brooding, but the truth of the matter was that he was just unusually adept at being focused. So in-tune with his surroundings that he didn't need to _look _like he was.

But just because he didn't have to try to focus on the here and now didn't mean that he let his mind wander often. It was quite the opposite, actually.

He almost _never _let his mind wander.

Because of what happened every time he did.

Kimura knew – on a purely analytical level – what his student was feeling right now, and he knew that it could go one of any number of ways, or perhaps even several, and that was the problem.

He couldn't really gauge what Sasuke would do now. There was just no way of telling, looking at his face as it was, what would happen now.

Kimura could quite easily imagine Sasuke leaping on the boy and strangling him. He could also imagine him simply standing still, silent and stoic as he always was.

He could imagine him fainting.

He could imagine him crying.

He could imagine him laughing, cursing, screaming, gaping, staring, stammering, fidgeting...

Sasuke really was unpredictable, and that was especially true when the subject at hand was his brother. Itachi was, and always had been, not just _a _sore spot but _the _sore spot with Sasuke, and Kimura had seen a wide spectrum of reactions to the man's name.

But here was something entirely different.

Wasn't it so similar to the feeling Kimura himself had felt, upon seeing his old team, his old mentor, his old family, again? Hadn't it been that tight, constricting, almost unbearable disbelief butting heads with the brutal clarity of reality?

Kimura thought that it was.

But it was more, wasn't it?

Because not only was Sasuke younger than Kimura, which of course made him more vulnerable to such things, but Sasuke was also far more troubled than Kimura had been.

After all, Kimura had been facing friends. People who had never wronged him, had never done anything but helped and nurtured and loved him.

Sasuke was facing the devil.

But even the devil had been an angel once, and that held so true in this situation that Kimura nearly laughed upon thinking it. Was it right to blame this boy? Was it right to put the hangman's noose around such a tiny neck?

Was it right to condemn someone for a crime they had yet to commit?

He didn't think it was.

And yet...

* * *

For all the thoughts that had passed through his comrades' minds, they were nothing compared to Sasuke's own. There was no real way to comprehend just _what _went through his mind in those moments. Just what dominated his thoughts as the day suddenly regained its focus and he began going through the motions of training without really being there.

Obito was getting better, and it was clear to Sasuke that there really was something to this boy other than his Naruto-like personality. But he wasn't thinking about that.

He wasn't paying any real attention at all, and a part of him would wonder later if the reason it seemed Obito was improving had been because he, Sasuke, had been slacking.

It might have been.

Because at every moment possible, Sasuke's eyes were drawn to the boy; the tiny little boy, sitting on the ground near where the future Yondaime and his teacher were discussing something with Naruto, every so often looking up at them and striking up conversation.

"Oi!" Obito snapped, and Sasuke was caught on the side of his face by a flying kick. "You're the one what keeps telling me to focus! Eyes on me, _senpai!"_

Sasuke soared to the side, barely managing to pivot and right himself so that he landed, sliding, on his feet. Obito was standing nearly ten feet from him, arms crossed and eyes confused.

Sasuke shook his head, trying to clear it, and forced himself to stop. Tried to clear his head, and focus on what he was here to do. It had nothing to do with...with _him. _Not now.

Not yet.

"S-Sorry..." Sasuke mumbled, and Obito's eyebrow quirked.

"Uh...yeah," the chuunin replied. "Whatever. C'mon. Back to it, eh?"

Sasuke nodded.

* * *

"So what's _happened _to you, anyway?"

Jiraiya frowned curiously at his student. "Pardon?"

"Well," Minato said, making a nonsensical gesture with one hand toward his teacher, "you aren't looking your best. If I had to guess, I'd say you look at least _fifty."_

"What brought this on?" Jiraiya asked, a little too quickly.

Minato shrugged. "It's been a while since I've seen you, but I wouldn't have thought the road would have treated you _that _badly. Did you get married again?"

Jiraiya forced a laugh and, miraculously, it didn't _sound _forced. "No, no. You're right. Life as a hermit's pretty hard. I _have _aged for it, haven't I? But, things haven't been too bad, really. My book's coming along well, and of course _these _yahoos have kept me on my A-game."

Clearly, that wasn't quite the answer Minato had been looking for, because he seemed unconvinced, but he let the subject go at that. It was clear to Jiraiya that now that the notion had taken hold, it wouldn't go away just because of one of his usual stories.

Minato knew better than most how often Jiraiya kept secrets from people, _especially _his friends, and he knew that there was a secret involved, here.

But until the old hermit was prepared to spill, Minato clearly wasn't about to push the issue. Pushing would only cause Jiraiya to hold even tighter to the secret, purely out of spite.

"...All right," he muttered, shrugging again, "so what's with Naruto today? He seems distracted."

Jiraiya glanced at the young genin, sitting cross-legged on the ground and staring at his palm, focused but not quite focused enough.

He knew, of course, that it was the two-year-old seated not six feet away from them, playing in the dirt and every so often looking up to watch the young ninja train. He was especially drawn to Obito and Sasuke, of course.

"Not sure," Jiraiya muttered. "Guessin' he didn't eat much this morning. He gets like that without his fix."

Minato chuckled, and _that _he seemed to accept at least a little better than the first one.

* * *

The day ended like so many other days ended lately.

Minato and Jiraiya ceded to treating their student to ramen, Kimura and Kakashi remained stone silent as if nothing at all had happened at all, _ever, _and Sakura and Rin carried on an animated discussion about techniques and theories Sasuke had never heard of.

Then again, he _still _wasn't paying attention.

Obito was clearly feeling good about himself, because he was still practically skipping. He even ruffled Itachi's hair as the boy bounced over to him.

Sasuke's eyes were immediately glued to the toddler again, and he still wasn't sure just what he was feeling, what he was thinking, what he was planning.

"Hewwo!" cried Itachi, gleefully.

Sasuke blinked when he realized that this greeting had been addressed to him. And he made a half-wave gesture with one hand in response, that seemed like a simple spasm of his arm.

"You _twaining..._" Itachi said, apparently under the impression that this should be kept a secret. "You twain Obi! Make stwong!"

"Obi_to," _snapped the chuunin. "Show respect, runt!"

"Wespect!" Itachi repeated. "Wespect sin-say!"

_"Sensei," _Obito corrected immediately, "and he's _not _my...y'know what? Never mind. You don't listen."

"Don' wissen!"

Itachi looked over at Sasuke, eyes sparkling with mirth. He leaned over, as if indulging another secret, and said, "No wissen 'cuz Obi dumby-head."

And Sasuke realized that he had failed.

He had lost to his brother. Again.

Because he laughed.


	16. Out of the Bag

_**Hello, again. School's started up for me again. Yet again, I present you with excuses. I am sorry. I hope that I may be forgiven in light of the fact that this is a very important chapter. I'm not sure I had planned for this to happen so soon, but then again, when do my plans ever work out like I think they will?**_

_**Some of you have expressed a concern over my focus on Sasuke and Itachi over the past couple chapters. Well, I'm sorry about that, but it's an important point in the plot, and I can't very well ignore it. I know that Sasuke probably isn't everybody's favorite, and I can't really blame you for that. But he's important, regardless.**_

_**But regardless of that importance, something more important happens here. I think a lot of you have been waiting for this. So, enjoy.**_

* * *

There was a sudden sort of…spasm, some sort of actual shock, as Sasuke's laughter reached the ears of his team. It struck Naruto and Sakura both - and Kimura, as well, although he was less surprised - that they had never heard the last heir of the Uchiha laugh before.

Ever.

And even if they had, the sort of laugh that they heard was nothing that could have matched it. It was short, and sudden, and even he seemed surprised by it – if the look on his face was any indicator – but it was light. Honest. And it was completely, utterly, out of the realm of reality.

Itachi, responding to his audience's mirth, giggled and a wide grin spread on his face. Obito, irritated, smacked his tiny cousin – not very hard – across the head. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered, "laugh it up. Dumby-head. Tch. _You're _a dumby-head, _dumby-head."_

"Oh, _that's _mature," Rin put in.

"I never said I was mature," Obito said. "Besides, ya gotta get down to their level if you want to make any sort of impression," he added sagely. "So let's get a move on, dumby-head. Let's go. Chop-chop. Move. Oi, _senpai_, whatcha staring at?"

The title seemed to have taken hold with Obito, and the irony was not lost on Sasuke. But he seemed not to be paying attention. This was not a new thing for Sasuke, but the look on his face certainly was. It was some strange double-emotion, or maybe even triple; amusement coupled with anger coupled with physical pain.

It was strange, but it made more sense on his face than laughing did.

The black-haired shinobi shook his head, settled himself, and continued walking. His teammates watched him, glanced at each other, glanced at Jiraiya, and glanced at their commander. They clearly had no idea how to react.

The strangeness of their moods had caught on with the others, as well, but since Minato said nothing, it seemed that Rin, Obito, and Kakashi were content to say nothing, too. The blond jounin _did _look as though he _wanted _to question, but he held it back. He seemed to be trying to think of how to proceed. Whether he _should _proceed. He kept looking at Jiraiya every few seconds, letting his eyes drift over the others as well, and his eyes showed that his mind was whirling.

Or, perhaps, calculating.

* * *

Naruto may not have acted like the most observant individual, but his eyes were sharper than he let on. He knew that the future Yondaime was pondering something, and wondered if perhaps he had caught onto the innate strangeness of his teacher's companions.

Naruto wasn't sure what could have tipped him off, but he did wonder how they were expected to handle the inevitable questions when and if they proved too difficult or too irritating to keep quiet. Minato didn't strike Naruto as being very patient where his senseiwas concerned, and that was where his eyes kept traveling every few moments.

Naruto hoped that Minato would go to Jiraiya for answers, because Naruto didn't really want to deal with it. He knew that Jiraiya didn't want them spilling the truth about their nature just yet, although the why in that equation hadn't really made itself known yet, but he also knew that he didn't like the idea of lying to Namikaze Minato.

For one, he thought that the man who would one day become a legend would see right through any lie Naruto could put forth, and for another, he just…didn't like the idea of being dishonest with the man. Sure, he had lied before, had lied loads of times, especially in his days in the shinobi academy, but…something about Minato made it…abhorrent.

That was not the word Naruto thought of, but it fit.

He thought that maybe he should talk to Sakura about it. She was smart. She'd always been smart. Maybe Sakura would know what he should do if the question of "who" and "why" and "where" and "what" came up. Because he couldn't really come up with an answer on his own, and didn't think he'd get a very clear one from Jiraiya _or _Kimura, who both seemed content to keep silent on the matter.

And Sasuke…well, when had Sasuke ever been approachable enough to ask for advice, anyway? And he certainly seemed even less inclined than usual to listen right now. He didn't look especially upset, but there was a paradoxical way about him that suggested that he was upset that he _wasn't _upset.

Naruto thought he understood.

Jiraiya and Minato were talking again, but they had broken off from the rest of the group and were too quiet for Naruto to hear what they were saying. The blond eyed Sakura, who was watching Sasuke with a confused - but relieved - look, and every so often responding to Rin with a distracted air that seemed to annoy the young chuunin, but only slightly.

Naruto started to migrate toward his pink-haired teammate.

"Kid," came Jiraiya's voice, and somehow Naruto knew that the old hermit was talking to him. He turned, eyebrows rising questioningly, and saw that Minato looked confused and Jiraiya looked stern.

He bit his lower lip, nervous for some reason he wasn't quite sure of, except for the fact that Jiraiya so rarely had that kind of look on his face, and Naruto had learned long ago to keep sharp track of the white-haired hermit's moods; when that man was serious, there was always a reason.

"Come over here a second," Jiraiya prompted, waving Naruto over.

Naruto did.

* * *

"All right, sensei. Out with it."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, straining to look innocent, but he couldn't help but feel as if his mother had caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. The hermit almost felt an urge to hide said hand behind his back and kick at the ground, but thought that the cute act would work on Minato about as well as it did on anybody...that was, it _wouldn't._

And he would only end up with some degree of injury.

So, drawing in a deep breath and preparing himself for what he knew his student was about to ask, Jiraiya said, "Out with what, specifically?"

Minato crossed his arms and frowned. "I think you know. Something's been going on, here. You've been...strange, ever since you came back this time. You've been a lot nicer, for one thing, and usually that wouldn't be cause for alarm, except that you're _you."_

"If you'd prefer I go back to criticizing you at every turn, I can certainly do that," Jiraiya offered, knowing that this was the end of the game but not all that keen on letting Minato win _that _easily.

"You say that Sasuke is a member of the Uchiha. You say that he was taken in by you when he was very young, too young for Obito to have remembered him? Well, that's all well and good, but _I _don't remember him, either. I may not be a member of the Uchiha clan, but I keep tabs on my people. And I've never seen him before, never _heard _of him."

"And you're just bringing this up now?" Jiraiya wondered.

"You always have a reason, for anything you do. I figured there was a reason you would lie. I thought perhaps you would tell me. But you haven't. But everything that's been happening with these new students of yours...it's strange. Too strange for me to ignore anymore. So what is this, sensei? What's happened here?"

Jiraiya stood stolid, staring at his former student for a long moment as he considered his options. He honestly didn't _have _any options at this point, did he? If he did, he couldn't see any, and he had been thinking rather hard on this moment for some time now.

He didn't really know _why _he had been attempting to hide the truth. Perhaps he feared that the illusion - for did he _really _know that this whole situation _wasn't _an illusion? - would break if he did. Or perhaps he just figured Minato would not believe him, and thus it would simply be better to pretend the truth didn't exist.

God knew he'd done _that _often enough in his life.

But here it was...Minato had called his hand, and did he really have any choice but to lay down his cards? So, he drew in another breath and let it out very slowly.

"It's called a..." he began, "...chronological shift. That's what _she _called it, anyway, crazy old bat. What it boils down to...well, you remember mentioning that I looked fifty?"

Minato quirked an eyebrow. "Yes..."

"You're right."

The blond jounin blinked. "...What?"

"You're right," Jiraiya said. "I _am _fifty." He glanced over at Itachi, who was rushing to keep up with his cousin. "Judging by _that _one, I should guess that my age _should _be about...thirty-four? Good Lord, boy, and you just _now _decided to call me on this?"

Minato stared. "Looks can be deceiving. Remember that old adage? It's especially true when dealing with _you. _And like I said, I figured you had your reasons, no matter what conclusions I drew."

Jiraiya shook his head. "It's a good thing I haven't exactly made my presence _known _around here...who knows how many people would have wondered? Your students probably wonder..._they _haven't said anything, have they?"

Minato shrugged. "Why would they? We're shinobi, old man. We know well the importance of secrets. Unless I give the order, they say nothing to anybody."

"Good. Well, anyway, fine. In any case, do the math. If I _should _be thirty-four, which...puts _you _at about twenty?"

Minato blinked again, confused, but nodded.

"But, I am fifty years old. So...take your guess, genius."

"That's...sixteen years...wait, are you...?"

"Four years from now, give or take," Jiraiya mumbled distractedly.

"What?"

"Oh...nothing. Nothing. A-Anyway, there you have it. This...chronological shift, as it's apparently called, boils down to the age-old idea of time-travel. Amazing what we shinobi can do, given enough time and boredom, isn't it?"

He wondered how ridiculous he sounded, passing off something like this as a game. But he guessed that there was no point in changing his way of thinking _now. _He'd always taken things too lightly, hadn't he? Hadn't Old Man Sarutobi always told him that? Well, he supposed, here was the proof of it.

Minato was staring at him still, but comprehension seemed to slowly be creeping onto his face. He did not seem disbelieving; that was one good thing about dealing with a genius ninja, Jiraiya thought. He understood the possibilities, and the idea of time-travel didn't seem nearly as outlandish to him as it might have to someone else.

"You're...from our future," Minato said.

"Essentially, yes," Jiraiya confirmed. "About sixteen years. And so you know, smart guy, I've aged _wonderfully. _I'm _still _quite popular with the ladies, thank you very much. Now, uh...anyway, there you have it."

"So your students...are..."

"Only Naruto is _my _student," Jiraiya corrected. "The other two are _his." _He gestured to Kimura. "He's the commanding jounin of their three-man squad. I took on Naruto as a bit of a side project."

"So, then..." Minato wondered, looking at the gray-haired jounin critically, "is that...?"

"Kakashi?" Jiraiya finished. "Yes."

A surprised, lilting laugh escaped the future Yondaime's lips. "No kidding. Hatake Kakashi...well, he certainly looks the part. So, then...Sasuke hasn't been born. Neither, then, have Naruto and Sakura."

"You seem to be taking this in stride," Jiraiya said.

"What choice do I have? Why else would you look so ancient?"

Jiraiya punched his student in the arm, hard enough to knock him to the side. "You watch your mouth, boy."

"Look, sensei, I'm not saying I really _comprehend _what you're telling me," Minato said. "I'm probably in shock. The implications of this whole thing will hit me sometime in the morning, when I'm almost certain I'll conclude that this has all been a dream. So I'll run with it for now. You may need to convince me more...fervently later."

Jiraiya chuckled, shaking his head. "Ah, but this situation gets weirder and weirder. Well, kid, whether you comprehend it or not, it's the truth. I can tell you how the jutsu works, if you'd like. I, uh...wouldn't suggest trying it, though."

Minato raised an eyebrow. "Why not? _You _did."

Jiraiya averted his gaze, seeming uncomfortable. Instead of answering, he said, "You're right. Sasuke has not been born into his clan yet. He will...in about four years from now. But the only way to explain why the boy can harness the _sharingan _was to admit his heritage. Besides, I don't think I could have gotten that stubborn little misanthrope to cover up that fan no matter how hard I tried."

Catching onto the fact that his mentor wasn't going to elaborate any more on the jutsu itself, Minato decided he'd count himself lucky for what he had and continue on. "He doesn't seem very agreeable. Seems he must have learned that from the others. So...why has he been acting so oddly around little Itachi?"

Jiraiya frowned. "I...don't think he'd appreciate my going into that. It's his business. And anyway, I think there's something else that you'll be quite a bit more interested in."

"Hm?"

Jiraiya turned. "Kid," he said, and Naruto turned.

Minato frowned, perplexed.

"Come over here a second."

* * *

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"Well," Jiraiya said, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he strolled along, "it seems good old Minato, here, has caught onto our little game. So, now he knows."

"Oh," Naruto said, and there was something like relief in his tone. "That so? So, uh...what now?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "Not sure. But, uh, anyway...there's something I'd been intending to tell you, both of you, for a while. I just wasn't sure how to go about it. But now that half the cat's out of the bag, I suppose I'd better let the other half out before it gets cold."

Naruto blinked. "...What?"

"Don't question my metaphors," the white-haired hermit snapped.

"So you all are from the future..." Minato said, mulling this over. "That's quite a story. I think I have no choice but to believe it, honestly. I don't think sensei could _get _drunk enough to make this up."

"Oh, I could," Jiraiya said, chuckling. "Believe you me, I could."

Minato chuckled.

Naruto did as well, but it sounded forced.

"You wanted to know something, kid," Jiraiya said, "and it's why you've been so distracted today, aside from...well, _him," _and here he gestured at Sasuke. "But, uh...I think you'll be interested to hear this, so pay attention."

Naruto looked confused. "Huh?"

"You asked me about your mom and dad," Jiraiya said.

"Yeah? And? Did you...did you find out...?"

There was something desperate and just...sad about the way Naruto looked at him. Just being reminded of the question he had asked Jiraiya earlier that day brought the issue full-force back into his mind, and Sasuke may as well not have existed anymore, to say nothing of Itachi.

"I knew," Jiraiya said, "from the beginning. Sorry, Naruto, but I just...couldn't figure out how to tell you. But now I know that I shouldn't have kept it from you. It's...not right, and like I said, the secret's out now, anyway."

"So...you know...where they are?"

"Not...quite. Hey, Minato, is Kushina at home?"

Minato frowned. "She...should be, yes."

Jiraiya nodded. "Good. I think it's time we pay her a little visit."

"Who?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya chuckled, and now that he had come face-to-face with the decision to tell, he seemed excited, almost giddy. "Kushina. She's, uh...Minato's fiancé. Uzumaki Kushina."

Naruto stopped moving.

He stopped breathing.

His eyes went wide, his hands dangled lifelessly at his sides, and he looked for all the world like a fish. Jiraiya laughed. Minato quirked an eyebrow questioningly.

"Namikaze Minato?" Jiraiya said with a flourish. "Meet Uzumaki Naruto."

Minato's mouth opened.

"Naruto?" he continued. "Meet your father."


	17. Father

_**Cliffhangers are evil things, aren't they? I'm sorry to do that to you, but it seemed the only way to really end the chapter. It seems like Jiraiya's M.O., though, to deliver the news in the same manner that one might remove a bandaid. I won't keep you; here's the chapter I think you've been waiting for ever since Minato came onto the scene.**_

_**

* * *

  
**_

The silence that followed was as tangible, as palpable, as a brick wall.

Jiraiya didn't pretend to himself that he couldn't have handled the situation any better way, but one of the hallmarks of his existence was to save second-guessing for later. There wasn't any use thinking about it _right now, _was it? It was done, and while it was perhaps possible to go back and change it—he'd be a fool to say otherwise, considering the fact that he was talking to a man who, in his memory, had died over a decade ago—he didn't think it was quite that easy, and besides...relying on such a crutch was dangerous at best.

So, he waited, and he wondered, and the part of him that doubted was stomped into the dirt for now. He could think of the repercussions of his statement later. It had no bearing now.

If Minato's face was unreadable, then Naruto's was a breed of neutrality that didn't _have _a word. They both seemed suddenly mesmerized by each other, and the first thing Jiraiya saw there was doubt. And of course there was. You don't just take in stride something like that, do you? The hermit actually found himself wanting to crack into his usual trademark grin, finding his students' faces to be quite humorous, actually.

He glanced to the side, and saw that the others had stopped some distance away, and were watching them. It was both ironic and heartening to see that of all of them, Sakura seemed the most concerned. It seemed to be a new feeling for the girl, caring for her blond firework of a teammate, but it was clear to anyone with half a brain and two-thirds of an eye that she did. Now, if not before. Jiraiya caught Kimura's eye and nodded, allowing the grin onto his face to show that concern was not warranted. Not yet, anyway. He gestured.

The silver-headed jounin nodded in turn, and gathered the group together again and urged them onward. Sakura seemed doubtful, but Sasuke glanced at her and she followed. Not with her usual beaming, sparkling smile and a "Coming, Sasuke-kun!" as she was known for doing, but with a frown, and a distracted glance backward over her shoulder. Naruto didn't see it; if he had, he wouldn't have read the look for what it was. He had spent too much time convinced that she was of a like mind to so many others: that she hated him, or at least found him annoying, and thus the expression that she had on her face right now wouldn't be concern, but disgust.

His thoughts were interrupted when Minato laughed.

* * *

"That is _not _what I was expecting you to say!" Minato cried, throwing his head back and laughing. But something that Jiraiya caught, and maybe Naruto did, too, that laughter didn't say that he didn't believe; just that he was amused by it. Or, maybe, by Jiraiya. "I'm sorry, Sensei, but this is all coming at me a _bit _too fast." He glanced down at Naruto, who was staring up at him like a half-convinced religious acolyte who wasn't quite sure if he should be kneeling and praying right now, and his wide grin softened. "I, uh...I'm not laughing at you, Naruto. Sorry about that. But, uh...you both have to admit, you've put quite the, ah...wow. Okay, you mind if I sit down to digest some of this for a minute?"

He didn't wait for his mentor or his student to reply, but simply hopped down to a sitting position on the ground, pulling his legs close, crossing one over the other. He shook his head. "I...just...wow. I mean, it all makes sense if...all the things I've seen, it all makes sense with what you've said, but...but..."

He looked up at Jiraiya. "You're...sure?"

Jiraiya was dead serious. "I'd say the same under torture, kid. I'm positive. I stood guard at his birth. Look, Minato, Naruto, I know this will take a while to come to grips with, but I figure it's been hidden too long. I've been trying for a while now to figure out just why I thought it needed to be kept a secret."

The white-haired ninja crossed his arms and glanced away, surveying the horizon. "I don't want to go into details just now. There is plenty you might want to know, but I think for one thing, Kushina should be here to hear it."

"Kushina..." Minato murmured thoughtfully, as if he'd forgotten her name. Or who she even was.

"Yes. Come now, boy," Jiraiya snapped, "you didn't think any _other _woman would bed you, did you? Were you always this thick? Yes, if you couldn't tell from his _name, _Uzumaki Kushina is this boy's mother. And she needs to hear about this just as much as you do, I'd wager. So that will come later. For now, you two just...know. Yes. He's your son. Any and every god that anyone's ever conjured as my witness, I swear it."

Minato knew just as well as, in fact he knew better than, Naruto that when Jiraiya spoke solemnly like this, it meant he was not only telling the truth, but that he may as well have been swearing an oath. This was not a prank; he would not joke about something so serious, anyway. No, this was solid, rock-grounded reality.

Naruto was trying to speak.

His words, when he finally managed to form them, were,

"My...f-father...is a hero...?"

* * *

"Sky."

Perhaps the most disarming part about that statement was the solemn, almost ominous tone Itachi used to say it. He pointed upward, and Sakura wasn't sure if the toddler was talking to her or to Sasuke. Realizing that it probably didn't matter, she said, "Sky?"

Itachi nodded emphatically. "Sky!" he repeated. "Sky _blue."_

Sakura found herself following the direction of the boy's pointing. "Ah...yes, the...sky _is _blue."

Itachi nodded again, seemingly satisfied that Sakura understood, and turned away, looking pleased with himself for his insight. Obito stared at his cousin with a confused expression on his face. "Kid? I think we all _know _the sky's blue."

"Sky _wot _blue," Itachi informed the young chuunin.

"I...what?"

"The sky is a _lot _blue," Kimura murmured serenely. "The boy has a point."

Sakura found herself wanting to laugh. Even Sasuke allowed a smirk, and although part of it looked almost like a grimace of pain, it was nice to see even this caricature of a smile on the genin's statuesque face.

"I...I wonder...what Jiraiya and Naruto are...talking to Yondaime about," she whispered under her breath after a while, wondering if she'd been loud enough for her teammate to hear. It was this that kept her from laughing, what kept the smile from her face as Itachi continued to inform the others about the details of the universe as he saw them (regardless of what she knew he had done, the boy _was _rather adorable). "He looked...I don't know..."

"Scared," Sasuke said.

Sakura blinked, surprised not the least by the fact that Sasuke had even answered.

"Scared? You think he...yes. You're right. He...he was..."

"Jiraiya probably told him," Sasuke went on, keeping his voice low so as not to divert attention back to them. The pair fell back, behind the others, and Kimura only gave them a passing glance before turning his head away again. "Told the Fourth where we come from."

Sakura frowned. "Well, I guess it was bound to happen eventually. Why...why do you think Naruto would be scared of that? I mean...maybe he wouldn't believe it, but..."

"The Fourth would believe anything his teacher told him," Sasuke said. "Jiraiya could tell him the sky was made of strawberry milk and he would say, 'Well, it doesn't look like it from here, but I guess you have a point.'"

Sakura chuckled. "Maybe. But I don't think they were talking about strawberry milk."

"Whatever it is, somehow I don't think he would want us to know."

"What...what could...? What could Naruto find out that would...did you see how he...?"

Sasuke turned to look at her, and his black eyes were glinting. "Perhaps Jiraiya told him that he and the Fourth are family."

"F...Fami...?"

But before she could even finish the sentence, she realized that it made sense. How _else _would the two of them look—and act—so similarly? Of _course _they were related! Right? Yes...but Sakura would have thought that finding out something like that, being related to the greatest hero Konoha had ever seen, would bolster Naruto's usual confidence, not hurt it.

"Why do you say they're family?" Sakura wondered, even though she figured Sasuke was right. "What...have you heard Jiraiya say anything?"

Sasuke shrugged.

And that was all he would say on the subject.

Sakura fell into contemplative silence, knowing Sasuke was right, but no less confused for it. When it came to most people, and Naruto most often, it seemed, answers only brought more questions.

* * *

The Uchiha District was a place that, in Sakura's own experience, had been off-limits to the public for years. Ever since...but walking into it, following Obito and Itachi, didn't seem so much a trespass, because it didn't feel like the same place, and of course that was true. It wasn't. In her time, it was dark, ominous; there were shadows lurking and sneaking, making their rounds along their chosen kingdom, and the living had no place among the lingering memory of the slaughtered.

But this was not a place of death. It denied death. It denied shadow.

To Sakura, it almost felt like when a child, convinced there is a monster under her bed, finally works up the courage to look, and finds nothing there. She felt some inexplicable weight lift from her, walking into this most clandestine place that she thought of as a graveyard, to find it was a sanctuary.

But looking at Sasuke, it seemed that he had looked under the bed only to find that the monster was not only there, but it wasn't alone. His face was twisted into a façade of indifference, but he moved with a sort of mechanical stiffness that was completely at odds with his training. His fists were clenched, and his jaw flexed spasmodically. She wanted to put a hand on his shoulder, but Sakura had a sneaking suspicion that this wouldn't comfort him, and that she would probably lose the hand.

"Fugaku-sama doesn't like you inviting people in without his okay," Rin reminded her teammate as Obito sauntered toward his home. She received no proper reply, Obito choosing rather to simply wave his hand and shrug, as if it didn't matter.

"Fugaku-sama doesn't like much of anything," Obito said after a moment.

Sasuke staggered, and only continued to walk when Kimura, who had slipped behind him, pushed him along. "Soft, Sasuke," the jounin admonished. "Fear can only cripple you. You know that." Sasuke nodded curtly, mouth shut tightly because he likely didn't trust his voice.

"Besides!" Obito said loudly, grinning, "they oughtta meet the newbie! Been a long time since you been home, eh, senpai?"he asked, turning to regard Sasuke. He received no reply, but he seemed not to have expected one. "Homecoming party, that's what you need! It'll be great!"

Sasuke didn't look exactly convinced, and Sakura wasn't, either.

But no matter _what _they seemed to want, this was going to happen. A confrontation that Sasuke was clearly no better equipped to handle as he'd been when Itachi had shown up, all smiles and giggles and nonsensical hand gestures, and he was going to have to face his past no matter what might happen. A part of Sakura wondered why Sasuke wasn't _pleased _that he would be seeing his parents, and the rest of his clan, again, but she had quickly realized that it wasn't that easy.

It hurt...because he knew, better than anyone, that it wouldn't—couldn't—last. And back home, the graveyard was just as full as it had ever been. This was no homecoming, no joyful reunion. This was meeting ancient strangers, ghosts of a memory he had spent half of his life banishing, burying, and forgetting. And reliving that memory, like a burn victim reliving the touch of fire, was far more agonizing than the event that had made it.

Sakura dared to reach out and take Sasuke's hand.

For a wonder, he didn't pull it back.

But he didn't seem to feel it, either.

* * *

"Hero?" Minato repeated incredulously. "Is _that _what they're calling me?"

Jiraiya wasn't sure what to make of Naruto's mood at the moment. He seemed at once enraptured and somehow terrified, and he had to wonder what was going through the genin's mind. He remembered the conversation he'd had with the boy before, about what Minato had eventually been forced to do, and wondered if maybe Naruto's decidedly sympathetic outlook on that action suddenly changed, faced with the idea that his own _father _had been responsible, and not just the village's leader.

He wondered how much that distinction mattered to Naruto, and feared that it mattered quite a lot.

"That's one word for what people consider you, kid," Jiraiya said. "More apt to say 'legend.' You managed to make quite the name for yourself, Mister 'Yellow Flash.' After my own heart, you are, although I wouldn't stand by such a ridiculous nickname."

Minato was grinning like a little boy. "Heh-heh...oh, wow. So I'm big news, huh?"

"Oh, yes. Quite."

He regarded Naruto curiously. "And this is my son, huh? Well, well...no wonder you're talented. It's in your blood." His grin split his face again, and Naruto's awestruck, almost painful expression softened a bit. A ghost of his usual smile, so like his father's, even managed to poke through.

"Like I said," Jiraiya said, "there's plenty I'm sure both of you will want to hear from me, but I think it better if we involve that fiancé of yours. She has just as much a hand in this as you do. Although I'm not so sure she's going to be as quick to believe it as you were, Minato."

Minato smirked. "You'd be surprised what I'll believe. What's that saying? 'With any skill, the deeper you delve into it, the more difficult it becomes, and all the more amazing because of it.' I think you put that in your book, didn't you, sensei?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "Indeed, I did."

"So..." Minato grinned, looking about ready to laugh, "...lemme guess...he barely passed the academy, didn't he? Didn't you, Naruto?"

Called on directly, Naruto blinked, then nodded sheepishly. He didn't trust himself to speak. Minato laughed heartily,

"Why would you ask that?" Jiraiya asked snappishly.

"Oh, because I can think of someone _else _who, ah...didn't have very good grades, but still managed to hold his own in combat. Any idea who that might be, sensei? I can't...seem...to remember his name..."

"Oh, shut it, you brat," Jiraiya muttered.

Minato stood up. "Well, then, let's get to the bottom of this. Even if Kushina doesn't believe it, she's sure to be entertained. I want to hear more about this. Well, Naruto? Come on. I guess we'd better introduce you to your mother, shouldn't we?"

Naruto opened his mouth, trying to speak.

Minato suddenly started, seeming to realize something. "Hey...wait...why...? Why doesn't he...know us?" He looked at Jiraiya, who was suddenly stone-faced again. "Sensei? I...I know that _I _would...that I could...did we...? Did she...? Is she...?"

Before Jiraiya could even think to reply, Naruto suddenly threw himself at his father, linking his arms around the man's waist like twin loops of steel, and began to cry.

* * *

_**To those of you who keep telling me how sick of Sasuke you are, I'm sorry. Nothing's going to change. Like it or not, Sasuke is just as much a part of this story as Naruto is, and I'm going to put as much focus on him as I need to. Say what you want about him, I like him. He's an interesting character. **_

_**Moving on from that, the newer developments regarding Itachi's motives has put something of a wrench in the works, insofar as my plotline is concerned. But in a way, it actually helps. I'm definitely going to be incorporating this new development into the story as I find ways to.**_

_**I hope the way I've handled this section meets your expectations. I won't deny that it was tough to figure out.  
**_


	18. Speaker for the Dead

_**This chapter was inspired by a couple doujinshi I read recently, and of course is a direct continuation of where the last chapter left off. This is a difficult section for me because I don't know for sure if I've handled it right. I don't know if Minato is responding properly to the idea of time travel. Kushina finally makes an appearance, and she's a bit of a mystery to me, as well, but with luck I'll get the hang of her in time, and we'll have some more interaction.**_

_**Jiraiya has been keeping the truth a secret for quite a while. Now, we start to find out why.**_

_**

* * *

**_

There was something about Jiraiya's response—namely, the lack of one—that made Minato flinch.

Seeing the realization dawn on his student's face reminded Jiraiya just why he had risen to the position of Hokage as quickly as he had. Of course the facts were easy enough to come to, considering the circumstances; clearly, if Naruto had no idea who he was, then…

Well…

That wasn't what was so impressive about Namikaze Minato. Not the realization, but his reaction to it. Not shock, not fear, not even disbelief; but cold, hard fury. "Jiraiya…" he said softly, and his voice was dangerous. That anger—which was _borne _of fear but not _ruled _by it—had helped the blond jounin to reclaim a soft, deadly composure. He kept a hand on Naruto's shoulder, absently rubbing it in an instinctual attempt to comfort the boy, but the other hand was clenched into a white-knuckled fist.

Jiraiya looked at his prized students and…found himself at a complete loss for words.

"Damn it, Jiraiya, _talk!" _Minato suddenly thundered, eyes blazing. _"You _were the one who said this has been a secret for too long! That you couldn't figure out why you thought it _should _have been in the first damn place!"

"…I just figured it out."

Distantly, though…the white-haired hermit was relieved. Yes…yes, this was right. This was proper. This was what he got, for dabbling in an art that he had no business trying. This was his consequence, the payment for the unfathomable bliss of seeing his beloved protégé again…having to _answer _him.

_Somebody_ had to answer for it all…and how inexplicably _right _that it should be him.

"I swear to God, Jiraiya, if you don't give me a better answer than—"

"Minato."

Both Minato and Naruto flinched violently at the way he said it. The tone of Jiraiya's voice right now was entirely unlike him; so much so that it seemed…_apart _from him, as if a ventriloquist were using him as a puppet. Part anger, part frustration, part exasperation…

…But mostly, he was pleading.

Desperately pleading.

"Listen to me…" Jiraiya almost whispered. "You…you'll have answers. I swear to you, Minato, you will have more answers than you could ever want to hear. I'll tell you. I'll explain everything….but…but that's the problem. Let me…at _least _a while longer. Just…just a while longer, so that I can…face this properly. I beg of you, Minato. I beg you on behalf of any respect you may have ever had of me…just a little while longer."

The frightening part was…he _was _begging. Short of falling to his knees, Jiraiya's face was that of a man baring his neck for the executioner's axe. Naruto turned his head, tears streaking his face, and stared.

"…Why?" Minato finally managed, looking confused but still angry. "What…could you have possibly remembered…that would…?"

"Minato…my boy…" Jiraiya murmured, sounding as though he were speaking to his own child, rather than his former student, and those three simple words carried the cadence of a suicide note, "….if I know you half as well as I should…then after I tell you this story…you're going to kill me." Jiraiya clenched his teeth, glaring at the serene landscape behind his students and looking as though he were fighting to hold back tears. "And…and if you don't…then Kushina will."

Anger gave way to confusion. Because somehow, Minato knew that his mentor wasn't being dramatic. Just one look at the man's worn, haggard face told him that Jiraiya fully believed this. "What…?" he choked out, "…could possibly…why would I _ever…?"_

"You'll understand," was Jiraiya's reply. "Oh, by God, you'll understand. But…but for now…your son needs you, Minato. That's all you need concern yourself with right now. Please."

"He…he doesn't…he didn't know." Minato was suddenly aware of the trembling child in his arms. A powerful child; a determined, driven, _dangerous _child…but still a child, no matter what his village told him. No matter what his leaders told him. Still a child.

_His _child.

"Because…" the man who would one day be Hokage continued, "…as far as he knows…I'm dead. That's it…isn't it?"

Jiraiya sighed. "…Yes."

His child.

Minato looked down. Naruto looked up.

In that moment, there was no teacher, and there was no student. There was no Hokage and there was no soldier. It was in that moment, as Minato knelt down and wrapped his arms about Naruto's shoulders, pulled him into a hug and stroked back the blond hair that was so like his own, that Namikaze Minato became a father. And Uzumaki Naruto—feeling comfort and security that he had never even known he'd wanted—surrendered to that embrace, tears flowing anew, and became a son.

Jiraiya watched this, dry-eyed, and hated himself.

* * *

"Kakashi."

The group stopped, and the silver-headed chuunin glanced back. But Jiraiya was not looking at him; his eyes were centered on Kimura. The elder Hatake raised his single visible eyebrow questioningly. Jiraiya made a beckoning gesture with one hand, and Kimura nodded.

"Naruto," he said.

"Mm."

"You told them."

"Mm."

Kimura sighed, but it didn't sound all that dejected. It sounded more like the man was relieved to hear this news, but Sakura thought that Jiraiya didn't look nearly the same. He didn't look like a man who had finally lifted a burden from himself; he looked like one who had picked up a new one. A heavy one. So heavy, in fact, that it would break him.

"I assume…it didn't go well."

"He figured it out. And now I have to tell him. Tell him…everything."

Kimura looked confused for…just about four seconds. Then his face fell, and he closed his eyes. "I see," he said softly. He glanced at the group of young shinobi. "Obito…take your cousin home. Come back to the training ground. There is…much to discuss. And you are a part of it. You all…are a part of it."

The only one who looked even slightly pleased at this development was Sasuke. And why not? The inevitable had been averted, at least for him, and he—much like Sakura—were curious. What, they wondered, would Jiraiya have to tell, that would have him looking so somber? And did it have to do with the myriad of mysteries surrounding their blond teammate?

And would they want to know the answers to those mysteries…when they heard them?

Obito frowned, but nodded, and grabbed Itachi's hand to pull him toward his home. The toddler waved goodbye, and Sakura found herself lifting a hand to reciprocate the gesture. Rin looked confused, almost frightened, and Kakashi looked…well, like Kakashi.

Kimura nodded to the white-haired hermit. "It was going to happen eventually," he said. "Better that it happen sooner…rather than later. We need to get this over with. All of it. Come on, everyone. Follow us. Obito will catch up."

"When he gets there…" Jiraiya said, "…go over as much of it as you feel necessary. I…have a specific task to handle."

Kimura's face lowered. "…Kushina-sama."

Jiraiya nodded.

"Sensei's fiancé?" Rin asked. "What are you talking about?"

"You'll understand, Rin," Kimura said, and there was a certain softness to his voice. He turned away from the Uchiha compound, and began walking back the way they had come, as Jiraiya vanished into thin air. Sakura glanced at Sasuke, but he offered no words of encouragement, nor even acknowledgement. He was, however, watching Kimura intently, as if searching for something. What, Sakura didn't know.

She didn't ask.

He wouldn't have answered, anyway.

* * *

Uzumaki Kushina wasn't used to seeing her future husband in a bad mood.

But she thought that the worst part about his _current _mood was that it…wasn't exactly bad. He didn't look angry. He looked…sad. Confused. Scared, almost. When she answered his knock, the first thought that came to her was that one of his comrades had died in the field. But then she saw the boy standing beside him, and the thought fled her mind.

The two of them looked identical.

"Uh…hi?" she offered, a bit apprehensive. "What is it, Minato? You look pale."

"Ah…hrm," Minato said, clearing his throat. "Sensei…said to stop by. That he'd meet us here. He, ah…has something to tell us, and I don't think it's very good news, with the way he's acting. But…I guess…well, hell, Kushina, I don't know _what _to think right now."

The boy was staring at her with the wide-eyed absence of a religious acolyte. It was rather uncomfortable, but somehow Kushina knew better than to comment on it. Instead, she stepped aside and held open the door. "Come in," she said. "Maybe if you sit down, you'll figure it out."

Minato nodded distractedly. "Yeah…maybe." He didn't sound convinced. "Come on, Naruto."

"Oh!" she said, smiling. "So this is Naruto. One of Jiraiya-sama's new students, right?"

"Mm-hm," Naruto mumbled, not even as coherent as Minato. "He…I…um…well…yeah. Ero-sennin is my…er…"

Kushina laughed. "Ero-sennin!" she repeated gleefully. "I like that! Well, come in, come in, Naruto-kun! Any student of…" here she snickered, "…Ero-sennin is welcome in my home."

A bit more lively, Naruto managed a smile—a charming, if nervous, smile—and bowed his head. "Thank you," he said, and followed Minato into the living room, where they sat down. Kushina gestured to a pot of tea and a set of cups on the table in the center of the room.

"Help yourselves," she said. "I just brought it out when you knocked."

Minato murmured his thanks, and Naruto gave one of those smiles again, a bit more confident this time, and Kushina sat down across from them. "You look like you've been sentenced to a month-long deployment to Suna again, Minato," she said lightly. "What's going on? What's wrong?"

"I…don't know," Minato said. "It's…it's important, I know that, but…Sensei hasn't said much. He said you should hear it, too. He…he should be here soon."

Kushina leaned back on her couch and crossed her arms. "Okay…what's going on here? I haven't seen you look so serious since the day you fumbled through your proposal and forgot where you put the ring."

"I didn't _forget," _Minato snapped, as she had hoped he would, "Obito took it! Another one of Kakashi's dares. And I didn't _fumble! _I was positively _eloquent! _What's with you Uzumaki women, anyway? Your mother mocks me incessantly, too. I happen to be a distinguished, highly dependable man. You should be _honored _that I accepted you."

"Oh, is that right?"

"But of course!"

Kushina's smirk echoed in her fiery blue eyes. "Well, now…what an honor it _is…_to have been chosen by the great Namikaze Minato-dono. Shall I bow to your greatness, then? Would Your Lordship enjoy an offering?"

Minato dared a glance at Naruto, who was grinning. Laughter danced on his face, and when he sensed he was being watched, he turned his gaze to the young jounin and offered a smirk of his own. "Careful," he whispered.

Minato chuckled. "Well, now…I guess a lighter atmosphere _does _help things along. What a smart fiancé I've managed to find. I suppose that introductions are in order, then? Naruto…this fine lady here is Uzumaki Kushina. And Kushina? This is Uzumaki Naruto."

Kushina blinked.

Minato's smile was soft, almost somber.

"Our son."

* * *

Jiraiya wasn't the sort of man to question himself once a decision was made.

But this time…he just couldn't help it. He stood at Uzumaki Kushina's door, hand raised to knock, and found that he hadn't the strength to. He was just about to turn around, thinking that he should wait. Yes, wait. Wait a day, give them a chance to get to know each other before…before…

But he didn't get the chance.

The door opened, and Minato stood there.

"Whatever this is, Sensei," he said seriously, "you're making a bigger deal of it than you should be. Now get in here and start talking. You're a writer, aren't you? Spin a yarn. C'mon." He made an impatient beckoning gesture with one hand.

Jiraiya sighed. "…Don't tell me I'm making too big a deal of this until I tell you, Minato. Trust me…trust me now, because you likely never will again."

Minato scowled. "Knock that off, Sensei! That isn't going to happen!"

The blond jounin grabbed his mentor's shoulder and shoved him into the living room. Kushina and Naruto were watching each other with unreadable expressions on their faces, and Jiraiya was struck by the resemblance. After spending so many years marveling at the young jinchuuriki's resemblance to his father, it had never struck the hermit that there was such a mark of his mother in that face as well.

And he wanted to run again.

Dear God, he wanted to run again.

Minato stalked into the room and plopped himself on a chair. "All right, Sensei. Let's have it. How are you here, why are you here, and what the _hell _happened?"

Jiraiya remained standing, even when Kushina glanced over and offered him a seat. "Minato…Kushina…and you, too, Naruto…if you forgive me anything, I hope…I hope it will be just how long it will take me to explain…find patience for that, if you can."

"Damn it, man, we're not going to disown you! What happened?! What did you do?!"

Jiraiya shrugged helplessly, hands out in what might have been a gesture of pleading. "I…betrayed you. I betrayed all of you. Because I'm a coward."

And once he began to speak…he couldn't stop.

* * *

_Of course I knew you'd be Hokage one day. We all did. Rin, Obito, Kakashi…they knew it, too. Everybody knew it. Namikaze Minato, the Yellow Flash. Yondaime Hokage. A legend in living flesh. Oh, yes, you made a name for yourself, boy, don't you think otherwise._

_I was…I _am…_proud of you, Minato. Imagine…my student. _My _student, taking my own former commander's place. I couldn't have been prouder if you'd been my own son the day you took that cloak, and that hat, and declared that Konoha would become the greatest shinobi village in history. Kushina, you were crying. But you were laughing, too, and applauding just as much as any of us, and you told me later that you'd never seen him so radiant._

_Yes, you said that._

_Could there ever be a prouder moment for you? Yes. Oh, yes, there could be. I remember I never understood why you had me as your best man when you married her. Why me? I asked myself. Why not Kakashi? Surely you didn't want me screwing up your wedding with my lame jokes and lewd stories, like I did when you first met Kushina's parents, right? They never stopped glaring daggers at my head at the reception, you know. I guess they came across my first book, and it…well, reaffirmed their suspicions of me._

_I…what? Oh, right. It's just a…technique. Yes. Back in time. Ah…it would be sixteen years. Ho…oh, I happened across it. An old man sold it to me. Cost a fortu—what? A woman…oh. Right. I did say that, didn't I, Naruto? Ugly enough to be either, really. It doesn't matter. I just…_

_Anyway, I knew you two would have a child eventually. Of course you would. Have to carry on the bloodline, right? You both love kids, anyway, for some god-awful reason, but I suppose I never really thought too much on it. It never really…hit me. I guess it never does for anybody._

_I remember when you were pregnant, Kushina, and I was telling you and Minato about a story I was working on, and how I was going to call my main character Naruto. I don't remember anymore where I came up with it. But you said it was perfect. A beautiful name, even. And you said that if you had a boy, that's what you'd name him. And maybe when he was old enough, you'd let him read the story that gave him that name. Namikaze Naruto, I thought. That was a good name. Yes, a hero's name. I was going to protest, you know, but it did have a ring to it. It really did._

_And when he was born, you were both as good as your word, and you named him Naruto._

_But then you made a mistake. You named me his godfather. I guess maybe I expected it, maybe, but I wasn't sure if that kind of responsibility should be mine. You know me, Minato, I'm no good with kids. And I wanted to tell you to find somebody better. But you insisted, and…and…well…_

_…That's when…things started to go downhill._

* * *

_**And so...it begins.**_

_**The secrets are out, and those who need to know will know. And I think that everything will change, once that happens. We'll just have to see how. I would call your attention to Jiraiya's rather inconsistent explanation as to where he procured the specifics of this time travel technique. It would seem that the old pervert is hiding something. Always with his secrets...he even keeps them from me. I wonder what the truth will end up being.**_

_**We'll just have to wait, and see if he tells us.  
**_


	19. Baptized by Fire

_**Those of you who hate cliffhangers, I'm sorry. I have a rather sadomasochistic fondness for them. I'm trying to make sure that I set this up properly. It's a fun story, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't take time to make sure it works. The longer things go, the more I end up trying to work in. I think there's a pretty clear difference between the first chapters and the more recent ones.**_

_**I've recently gained another fighter in my corner for this one. She's a very detail-oriented individual, which helps with a plot as potentially disastrous as this one. Time travel always gums up the works. So the direction of the story is probably going to go on a bit of a shift thanks to her. I think, all in all, that it will be better off for it.**_

_**The questions, and answers, thus begin.**_

_**

* * *

**_

"Before you continue with this," Kushina said, sounding all but panicked, "you're going to have to do better than 'it's a jutsu I found!' You two are introducing me to a son I haven't _had _yet! Maybe _you_ can take that without a real explanation, Minato, but I'm finding it a bit more difficult."

Naruto flinched, suddenly looking sullen again. He lowered his gaze, staring at his hands. Kushina sat across from him, and her eyes flickered from him, to her fiancé, to Jiraiya with the feverish speed of a cornered animal. She finally seemed to notice Naruto's sullen mood after the fourth or fifth pass, and frowned, suddenly looking sad.

"Oh, I…I…I'm sorry, I didn't…oh, _damn it, _you two are idiots!" she snarled at the two men still standing near the door. "Didn't they ever teach you _tact _at that academy of yours?!" She knelt down in front of Naruto, forcing a smile onto her face. "Hey…" she said, her tone so gentle that it made Jiraiya flinch. "Why so sad? _You _don't have anything to be sorry for. Look at me. Your name is Naruto, right? Isn't that right?"

The blonde managed a nod. He lifted his eyes, hesitantly, to look into his mother's. Kushina's smile widened. "Y-Yeah," Naruto whispered. "U-Uzumaki…Naruto. Ero-sennin said my…my family name was Kazuhiko at first, but…"

"Uzumaki, huh? That's _my _family name, too. It's a nice name we have, don't you think? Do you know where it came from?" Naruto shook his head, but he was beginning to look like himself again. His eyes were beginning to regain their usual luster. Kushina continued, "My family is from the land of the Whirlpool. _Uzu no Kuni. _That's where the name 'Uzumaki' was derived from."

Naruto frowned, looking confused. "I…I've never heard of…that place. Where is it?"

"Now?" Kushina asked, without losing her smile. "Nowhere. We were…well, let's just call it 'disbanded.' That's why I moved here, to Konoha. I met Minato, here," she gestured to her fiancé, who was looking both impressed and a bit crestfallen, "and…well, when he told me about the village where _he _lived…I fell in love. This village is beautiful, isn't it?"

Naruto smiled. "Yeah," he said. "It is."

"So…" Kushina frowned thoughtfully, face screwed up into some facsimile of confusion, "maybe you can help me understand what Jiraiya-sama is trying to tell me. I'm not too well-versed in ninjutsu. What did you call him? Ero-sennin?" She grinned. "Well, maybe you know, but Ero-sennin sometimes forgets that not everybody knows what he does. So tell me, Naruto-kun…you're from the future? Is that right?"

Naruto flinched at being called "Naruto-kun," but it was clear that he was pleased. His smile broadened into something resembling his usual expression. Kushina was grinning, too, and it was clear to both Jiraiya and Minato in that moment that while Naruto might have had Minato's face, he had Kushina's smile.

He said, "Yeah. Ero-sennin used this jutsu. I don't know what it is. But anyway, he says we're…sixteen years? Yeah. Sixteen, I think. In the past."

Kushina raised an eyebrow. "You don't look a day older than thirteen."

"I'm almost thirteen," Naruto said.

"So…you aren't even born yet, are you?"

"No…not really. Not _here."_

"So…how do you know you're in the past? What have you seen? What's different?"

"Well…there's lots of things. My favorite restaurant's in a different spot. Old Man Hokage looks younger. His hair is still kind of brown. Ish." Minato snickered. "I haven't seen Tsunade-baachan anywhere. Does anybody know where she is?" He looked over at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya shrugged. "I haven't the faintest clue. If that woman doesn't want to be found, she _won't _be found."

"Hnn. Well, the Uchiha…place. District? Yeah. That's it. That place looks better. Cleaner and stuff." At a rather severe look from Jiraiya, Naruto cleared his throat and said, "Ah…the Hokage Monument, that's a big one."

"A face is missing," Jiraiya murmured, and chuckled. Minato looked at him.

"Yeah," Naruto said. He pointed to his father. "Your ugly mug isn't up there yet."

Minato blinked, then grinned like a child. "Hey…_yeah…_if I become the Fourth, like Sensei says, then…they're gonna carve my face up there! That's…that's so awesome."

Kushina laughed. "You're such a child sometimes."

"And you love me for it."

Naruto shrugged as Kushina turned back to him. "And…well…I mean…you guys are here."

He gestured.

Kushina's smile finally disappeared completely. She stared at the blonde. "What…what do you mean?"

"He means we're dead, Kushina," Minato said, and the mood was suddenly sober again. "That's…part of what Sensei wants to tell us. We both died before he was old enough to remember us."

"…So…not only…are you telling me that we…that we have a son…but we're not…we're not even going to be able to raise him…?"

Jiraiya closed his eyes. "If Naruto was…raised by anybody, it would likely be his academy instructor, Umino Iruka."

"Iruka?" Minato repeated. "I know him. He's just about to _enter _the academy."

"Iruka-sensei is a chuunin," Naruto said. He tapped the headband he wore. "This is his. He gave it to me, when I graduated."

Jiraiya nodded. "And when Naruto graduated, he entered into the…ahem…tutelage of one Hatake Kakashi."

Kushina blinked. "Kakashi? As in…? So…wait, is…the man that I ran into…he said he was a relative of...was _that…?"_

"He's going by the name Kimura right now," Jiraiya said, nodding. "But yes. That was Kakashi."

"He…he _did _look…familiar…except, he had one eye covered. With his headband."

"I've been meaning to ask about that," Minato said. "Is he blind in that eye? Was he…disfigured? Why does he cover that side of his face? I mean…aside from the obvious reason."

"I'll get to that," Jiraiya said. "There's a story to go along with that, as well."

Kushina smiled again. "He called me 'Kushina-sama.' I _thought _that was strange. Now I see why."

Jiraiya shrugged. "Kakashi always has been polite. Well…sort of."

Minato said, "Okay, Sensei. Maybe it would be a good idea for you to start at the beginning. I don't know if I want to hear about how my own death is going to come about. I don't think anybody would, really. But…it's pretty obvious _something _strange is going on here."

Kushina nodded.

Jiraiya drew in a deep breath. "Right…well…"

* * *

_Like I said, you named me Naruto's godfather._

_You also said, in a half-joke, that Tsunade would be his godmother. She hadn't been in the village for ages untold by that point, but you said that if she ever came back, the position would be hers to take. And I guess that was a bit of an honor, really. To have the child of Konoha's greatest hero as a godson._

"Greatest hero? Minato's our greatest hero, is he?"

"…She sounds _so_ convinced."

_It might be fun to mock the boy, Kushina, but looks are damn well deceiving. Look at Naruto. Look at _me. _In the days just before his instatement as Hokage, and thus his removal from field work, other shinobi villages issued flee-on-sight orders, should they ever run into our Yellow Flash, here. _

"Wow. I don't even think _you _got _that."_

_Yes, well, there you have it. The Fourth Hokage quickly became the village's most popular leader. They rallied under your banner, kid. Mockup versions of your cloak and hat—yes, you wore it, just like the old man—were sold in costume shops. Kids would dress up and have mock wars in the streets. I mean, sure, kids always had mock wars in the streets; it just happens. But this time, they all had a leader. Whoever wore the mantle of Yondaime always won. It was the rule._

"Oh, jeez. That sounds…well, creepy, actually."

"It sounds cute. Call it creepy all you want, but everybody can see the grin on your face. You like it."

_Life went pretty well for you. The war resolved—for now, anyway; for us shinobi, war is _never _fully resolved—and the people content. Everything was fantastic. We lost some of our own, of course, but all in all, we as a village were more prosperous than ever. All thanks to the Yellow Flash. _

"The more I hear that nickname, the more it reminds me of a bodily function."

_Well, we never get to _pick _our nicknames, now do we, Naruto?_

"Well…you _are."_

_Ngh. Anyway, it looked to you two like the perfect time to bring a child into the world. Right when things were most peaceful. And of course, you both always wanted a child of your own, didn't you? Especially you, Kushina. We all knew it. It's a noble desire, to extend your bloodline, to nurture a piece of the next generation. Some might call that selfish, I guess, but I don't think your desire was ever selfish by any means._

_When it came out that you were pregnant, the village exploded. Yondaime's heir! Yondaime's heir! What an occasion! We'll make his birthday a holiday for the entire nation! We'll dance and sing and bring him into the world properly. We'll show him just what Konoha really is! What we're made of!_

"…What, Naruto? What was that scoff for?"

"Naruto-kun? You look angry."

_Well, he has a right to. I'll get to that. _

_I tell you, Minato, I don't think you'd ever been more nervous as when Kushina's pregnancy started coming near its end. It was coming close. Your baby. Your son. And, even though you always told people you weren't royalty and it wasn't right to call him your "heir," I think maybe you started thinking of him that way, toward the end, despite yourself. But you told the villagers many times that just because he was your blood didn't mean he'd automatically become the Fifth. _

_Rather amusing, thinking about that now._

_You know, you'd be surprised what you remember when you finally start telling a story from the beginning. You told me once, right around her eighth month, that it would be just your luck to have some catastrophic war blow up around us, some cataclysm that would take you away from the village, right when Naruto was supposed to be born. You never did like the idea of the Hokage sitting behind a desk and reading reports of what your fellow shinobi were doing; the Hokage is the greatest of the leaf-nin. Why the hell should the village lock up their best in an office and send out the others to do his work?_

_I always liked that attitude. You were a smart one when you wanted to be, boy._

"You keep talking like I'm already dead."

_Force of habit, kid. This time travel business doesn't do much for one's…mental equilibrium._

"Let me guess. Minato's premonition was right, wasn't it?"

_Not in the way that any of us could have anticipated. And you should know that when it comes to the old adage about hoping for the best and expecting the worst…well, Minato's a master at it. He came up with any number of scenarios that were far more likely to happen than what _did. _He did his best to prepare for them all, too. He wanted everything to be perfect when his baby boy entered into this fundamentally screwed up world we've somehow managed to build for ourselves. Naruto would be born into prosperity, damn it, and anyone who wanted to stop that…well, I'm pretty sure a few of the curses you laid their way weren't real curses._

_Quite inventive, though. I'll admit that. I used one of them in a later book._

"So what happened? What the hell is so bad that it could kill Konoha's golden boy? What…what killed my husband…?"

_Pick the worst possible contingency, the worst enemy you could possibly have come upon us…and picture something stomping it into the dirt to reach you. The red fire, the hunter of blood. Hell's twilight. The beast of whips. The devil's guard dog. I can't even count how many names this damned thing has. Mythological creatures always have too many names. But we found out, beyond any doubt, that this thing wasn't a myth._

_Nine-Tails._

"…The Kyuubi…oh, God…"

_God?_

_Yes. Yes, I think it _is _a god. A primal, evil, malevolent god. A god who'd like nothing better than to dump us headfirst into the apocalypse. I think maybe the Kyuubi is the only god that actually exists. It makes far more sense that God wants to destroy us, rather than save us, if you ask me._

_We were blessed by God, all right. The night Naruto was born. Blessed by hell._

_And nobody was more blessed than Naruto himself._

"…What are you…what do you mean by that?"

"Sensei…you don't…you don't mean…damn it, Sensei, you don't mean that…that _I…!"_

_Show him, Naruto._

"I…I don't…just…just _tell _him…"

_He won't believe me. He won't believe anybody._

_Show him._

_

* * *

  
_

"You're…serious."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't invent a story like this," Kimura said dryly. "It's not like I _benefit _from it. Believe it if you want, Rin. Don't believe it if you want. It makes no difference to me."

"We can't really prove it," Sakura said. "Or…well, _I _can't. I'm the first ninja in my family."

Sasuke raised a thin black eyebrow at Obito, who was staring at him. He said nothing, but his midnight-black eyes still seemed to say, _What reason did you think there was for not knowing who I am? _He looked even less concerned than his commander; he couldn't care less that the story was unbelievable if he tried. He glanced at Kimura. "Are we done here? We're wasting time. Isn't there a mission these three need to prepare for?"

Kimura looked entirely unsurprised by the young Uchiha's reaction.

"Jiraiya-sama is handling the truly delicate part of this situation," the silver-haired jounin said. "It is…perhaps logical to think that you three have less to take from the truth than Minato-sensei and his fiancé. They, more than we, have more to digest, more to understand, and more to think about. I will only be very slightly surprised, in fact, if Minato-sensei asks for another team to take your place in this coming mission. He will have much to think about."

Sakura looked at Sasuke, wide-eyed.

Sasuke looked back at her and made no reaction.

"So…you're seriously Kakashi?" Obito asked, still skeptical.

"Seriously," Kimura repeated. "Hatake Kakashi, student of Namikaze Minato, jounin in the service of the Fifth Hokage of Konhagakure. Yes, fifth. Although, depending on how one wishes to consider the numbers, she may be the sixth."

"She?" Rin asked. "Godaime is a woman?"

"A woman you are all…slightly acquainted with, in fact," Kimura said. "Tsunade."

"Okay, now I _know _you're full of it," Obito scoffed. "The day _she _becomes Hokage is the day I eat my headband."

Kimura twitched, but said nothing.

"Tsunade is my teacher," Sakura said. "She taught me most of what I've been showing you."

Rin frowned. "…I _did _think your techniques were…kind of advanced…"

Kakashi was watching Kimura silently, dark eyes scrutinizing, gauging; he was the only one who _hadn't _spoken since Kimura had begun telling them the truth of his existence, and of where Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke had come from. He hadn't said a word of disbelief _or _belief, choosing instead to digest the information first. Kimura locked eyes with his younger counterpart.

The jounin sighed.

"There _is…_one thing," Kimura said, "that I think I need to get out of the way. Something all of you might have wondered about, even if you didn't realize you wondered." He tapped the metal plate on his headband. Kakashi's eyes widened the faintest bit, and Obito screwed up his face, looking even more confused and even a bit apprehensive.

Sakura bit her lip.

Sasuke sighed, sounding bored.

Kimura lifted his headband to show the long, thin scar going down his face. He tightened the cloth so that it stayed in place on his forehead, where his counterpart wore it, and sighed again. "This will take a fair bit of explanation that I don't think I want to go into right now. So…I suppose I should just get it over with quickly."

Kimura opened his left eye.

* * *

**_I know. I know. More cliffhangers. Two of them. I'm an evil, evil little man. But this sets up the next chapter nicely, I think. So stick around, folks. I take a long time to churn out updates; I know that. But I hope, I pray, that they're worth it for you guys when they come._**

**_'Til next time, everybody.  
_**


	20. The Truth Shall Set You Free

**_Good Lord, I'm a twisted son of a bitch._**

**_I never meant to leave you all waiting with dual-cliffhangers for this obscenely long amount of time. I swear. Exams, term papers, an original novel I hope to publish at some point in this century, and moving to a new address have all been straining my brain to its limits lately. I wanted to make sure to follow up the last chapter satisfactorily, but I never meant to wait for six months to do it. For that, I bare my neck to you, whom I have failed. Lower the axe as you may. I probably deserve it._**

**_With that said, the hardest part of this chapter was avoiding another set of cliffhangers. I wanted to end this batch of scenes with a definite sense of conclusion. It was difficult, but I think I did it._**

**_Characterization may not be quite as you're expecting, but I do hope that I've delivered things in a believable fashion, nonetheless._**

**_Time travel is always tricky._**

**_

* * *

  
_**

All Kushina saw was a seal branded onto Naruto's stomach. She admitted to herself that it seemed kind of crass to do such a thing to such a young recruit, but then ninja were bred nearly from the womb to become warriors, so she didn't really figure that she had much of a say in the matter.

In the grand scheme of things, it seemed rather harmless. In fact, she suspected that the only reason she was even uncomfortable about it was because this was _her _child...or so Jiraiya said. But he _did _look like Minato...didn't he? And didn't he _feel _like her son? She felt _some _kind of connection to the boy, at least. And she thought that that connection, that maternal instinct or whatever it was, was the part of her that cringed at the thought of what that seal might signify.

When she turned to look at Minato, she expected to see confusion, or maybe interest, maybe even recognition.

What she _didn't _expect to see...was abject horror.

The man Kushina planned to marry, the man who had looked death straight in the face with a twinkle in his eye and a song in his heart, the man braver and stronger than any she had ever seen in her life, stumbled backward and fell flat on his back as his legs gave out beneath him. He was shaking, stuttering, struggling with all the willpower he had to regain control of himself.

"...No..." Minato whispered. It was all he could manage. It was the only word he could grasp. "...No, no, no...oh, God, no...I wouldn't...I'd never...it's...that _can't _be..."

Jiraiya sighed. "...Yes, Minato. It is. That seal is what keeps him human. Your seal. The seal that claimed you. Your son holds the nine-tailed fox within him. He is the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki."

Minato was shaking his head, trying desperately to deny whatever horrors he was facing in his mind. Kushina felt helpless. She had no idea what to say, what to do, what to think. She barely had an idea of what they were even talking about.

"You..." Minato whispered, staring at his teacher like he'd never seen the man before. "You...you..._let _me...turn him...into a _prisoner?! _You let me place a burden like _that _onto my own son?! Is _this _what you were so frightened to tell me, Jiraiya? Is _this _what you didn't want me to know?"

Being the outsider to this conversation that she was, Kushina could tell that this _wasn't _what Jiraiya had been frightened of telling his student. Jiraiya looked surprised, newly guilty, and had no idea what to say. The hermit opened his mouth to speak, perhaps to continue his story, but couldn't find the words.

"It had to be me!" Naruto cried out suddenly.

Jiraiya and Minato both flinched violently.

They stared at him.

"What...what do you mean?" Kushina asked, sensing that the other two wouldn't be able to ask.

Naruto had lowered his shirt, removing the seal from view, and was staring at the floor as if trying to figure out the answer to that question. He lifted his hands and stared at his palms. "It...had to be...me..." he repeated breathlessly. "Because...because...who _else _would he be able to choose. It...it has to be a baby...doesn't it?" He looked up at Jiraiya. "For the seal to work, it has to be a baby. Right?"

Jiraiya licked his lips, drew in a breath, and nodded. "Yes."

"So...so what was he gonna do?" Naruto asked, speaking as though Minato weren't even there. "Ask the village if anyone _else _had a baby they wanted to sacrifice to that...that..._thing?! _He couldn't do that! I was...I was the only one. I was the only one he could choose because...because..."

Jiraiya looked at Minato with a suddenly stern expression. "Because he was the only one you could make that decision for. You couldn't look to your people, other new parents just like you, to give up their children to the beast."

Minato was still shaking his head. "No. I wouldn't do that. Not to my own child. I'd never do that."

"Yes, you would," Jiraiya said, "because if you _hadn't, _it would have destroyed the village, and not just Naruto but _everyone _would have been sacrificed. A leader has to make decisions like this, Minato. That's why there's only one."

"And if...if I _didn't _have the...the fox in me," Naruto said, "then I...wouldn't have survived my first mission. I wouldn't be here. I...I'd be dead." He looked at his father and actually smiled. "So...you know...you kinda did me a favor."

Minato drew in several deep breaths, straining to regain control of himself. He forced his legs to obey him, and rose shakily to his feet. Kushina went over to him and helped hold him steady. He looked back at Jiraiya. "...There was..._no _other choice...?"

Jiraiya nearly laughed. "If there _had _been, do you really think Kushina would have let you do it?"

Naruto's grin was coming back. Stronger, brighter. "Ero-sennin's been helping me with it. Helping me...you know, _handle _it. I figure if the thing's going to be living in my body, then it's gonna pull its weight. Know what I mean?"

Minato wiped a hand over his face. He said, "...Well, Sensei...don't expect me to take you out for a drink or anything, but...but you don't have to feel guilty over...this. I guess...I guess in the face of that...there really _was _no other choice. But..._damn it! _I just...can't _believe _that! How could I...? How could...?"

"You'd be surprised what so many years as a ninja will do to you," Jiraiya said. He sounded much more like himself now. He sounded relieved. Kushina knew that he hadn't said everything, knew that he was still holding _something _back. The real bombshell. But considering Minato's state right now, she didn't really feel like pressing the man for answers was a very good idea.

"This kinda stuff is what a hero does, right?" Naruto asked. "It's not easy, and you don't like yourself for it...you wanna kick yourself in the teeth for it...but _other _people thank you for it. Other people...appreciate it. Better this way than to...have someone else have to take it on." He winked. "I can handle a stupid _fox. _Who knows what'd happen if you left it to some other idiot?"

There was a breath of silence before Minato started laughing.

It was the kind of laughter that would change to tears with only the slightest prompting.

Minato reached over and pulled the blond genin against him, still laughing. "Whether we raised you or not," he said, "you've turned out pretty damn well, haven't you?" Naruto returned the embrace gratefully, smiling from ear to ear.

Kushina put a hand on top of her son's head, and stroked back his hair.

Jiraiya lowered his head, and a light shudder passed through his body.

He was smiling in spite of himself.

Kushina knew that he didn't _want _to leave this discussion as it currently stood, knew that he _wanted _to tell them everything. But somehow...he just couldn't. Perhaps, she thought, that was a good thing. Uzumaki Kushina had seen a lot from the man who had taught the finer points of the ninja arts to her future husband. She knew how their relationship worked, knew that they trusted each other implicitly, and she knew that each would do absolutely anything in their power to help the other.

The one thing she wanted most desperately _not _to see...was something horrid enough to break that bond. And as far as the look on Jiraiya's face could tell her...she had just narrowly avoided it.

* * *

"What...the..._fuck?!"_

Rin elbowed her teammate in the stomach in some species of reprimand, but it was halfhearted and Obito probably hadn't even felt it. They were both staring at Kimura. Even Kakashi looked stunned. Those three words seemed to hang in the air, surrounded by stifling silence. Sasuke looked bored, Sakura unsure of herself. Their chuunin companions didn't even know they still existed.

Kimura's black-and-red gaze held them rapt.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi," Kimura said slowly. "I am a jounin in the service of the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf. I am the son of the White Fang. I am known as the Copy Ninja. I am...one of the so-called 'masters' of Konoha's secret weapon: the sharingan."

Kimura looked immensely uncomfortable to be saying this, but he kept his attention locked onto his audience. His hands were pocketed, his stance easy, but there was no question that he did _not _want to be talking about this. He did not sigh, he did not slump, but something about his voice gave it away. He wasn't bragging; on the contrary, he sounded bitter, as if he were mocking himself.

"How...the _hell...?" _Obito began, then his eyes went wide. "Holy crap, are you an Uchiha?! Like, from way back? Are you my second cousin or something?!"

The faintest ghost of a smile cracked under Kimura's mask. "...No, Obito. I am in no way connected to the Uchiha clan by blood. One might say that this sharingan that I possess is...stolen. Loaned. This..." he gestured vaguely to the left side of his face, "...is not my eye."

"It's...not your..." Obito shook his head, smacked his temple with the heel of his hand a few times. "Well, I'm sure as hell glad you're making so much _sense, _here. I mean, anyone else would've sounded pretty damn crazy right now, but _you..."_

Now Kimura sighed. He said, "It's not my job to make you believe me. In all honesty, I'd _like _you to think I'm nothing but a raving lunatic. It would make things that much simpler." One eyebrow lifted in a curious kind of gesture. "Are we to play the, 'ask me something only Kakashi would know,' game now?"

"...I believe him."

Kakashi's normally cold, blank eyes were riveted on the silver-haired jounin, all but blazing with intensity. Kimura frowned at his younger self, but did not speak. Kakashi continued, "He has no possible reason to be lying right now. Anyone with a working brain cell can tell that that is the sharingan. In the history of this village, has there ever been a single person who could only activate it in _one _eye?"

Obito blinked. "Uh...well...no? I don't...think so."

"That scar makes me think that it was implanted," Kakashi guessed. Kimura inclined his head. "You lost your own left eye in battle, and had it replaced." Again, Kimura inclined his head. "You keep it covered because you have no control over it? You can't deactivate it?"

"He's good," Sakura murmured. She looked at Kimura. "No wonder you graduated from the academy so early."

Kimura closed his eye, repositioned his headband, and tightened it again. "My blood is not Uchiha blood. I have only enough control over this eye to _use_ its power, not to temper it. The only way to keep it from exhausting me to death is to deprive it of stimulation."

"That...makes sense," Rin murmured. "So...so when you open that eye, your brain treats it just like the other one. You just...see. But since it holds an activated sharingan, you see the way an Uchiha would...so you can use it. But since you weren't _born _with it, and didn't learn how to use it yourself, you can't do anything else."

Kimura nodded.

"...Whose..._is _it?"

The question seemed to fly from Obito's mouth of its own volition, but as soon as it was asked, both Rin and Kakashi looked surprised, as if they never would have thought to ask. Kimura locked eyes with Obito, and there was more than discomfort in his face now.

There was fear.

* * *

"Why are we leaving?"

There was still that..._youth _coming out in Naruto's voice whenever he spoke, and every time he heard it, Jiraiya felt a knife twist itself into his chest. He didn't answer. He _couldn't _answer. He just didn't trust himself not to break down and just...well...

"Do we _have _to leave?" Naruto pressed when his teacher didn't speak. "I wanted to...I want to..." But he couldn't say it. "I...I don't know _what _I want..." he murmured softly as if just reaching that conclusion as he said it.

"Let them digest it, kid," Jiraiya said. "We'll come back after a while's gone by, after they sort through all this..." he coughed, cleared his throat. "...Just...let them be for a while. Trust me." He flinched violently as these last two words came out of his mouth, and he cursed himself for them.

The two shinobi continued to walk for a while in uncomfortable silence.

After he could take no more, Naruto spoke. His voice was haunted now. Conflicted, but resolute. He said, "...So you're my godfather...huh?"

Jiraiya closed his eyes. "...Yeah. That's right."

"And you were...scared to tell them...that you weren't...that you didn't...you never..."

"Yes."

"So...why _didn't _you?"

"Why didn't I tell them?" Jiraiya asked flatly. "Or why didn't I raise you, like I should have?"

He dared a glance at the blond genin, and saw an unreadable expression there. Naruto said, "The second. I already know the first one."

A forced chuckle. A small cough.

The worst part about it all, Jiraiya thought as he tried to figure out what to say, was the _lack _of accusation in Naruto's voice. He finally decided, after much deliberation, that the truth was his only option. He said, "Because I didn't trust myself. Because I knew I'd screw it up. Because...I would never match up to the father you lost, no matter how much I deluded myself. I knew I'd be...too protective. I knew how the village would treat you, and I knew that if I stayed there that I would've strangled every last one of them with my bare hands."

Was this a lie? It sure as hell didn't _feel _like the truth. But it was the only thing he could think to say. It was the only thing even close to what he felt when he thought about it. He continued, thinking that if he dwelled on it too much, it could only get worse.

"I knew...that the old man would handle it better than I ever could. I knew he'd...keep them within reason, but that he wouldn't shelter you. I knew he'd figure out the right way to handle the people. I knew...that I could trust him with you. Far more than I could trust myself."

The more he spoke, the more it sounded like he was lying through his teeth.

"...It's 'cuz I look like him, too. Isn't it?"

The very air around him turned to concrete. Jiraiya's entire body locked up, and his eyes went wide. His breath wouldn't come, and words no longer existed.

"You didn't want to look at me every day, thinking of my dad," Naruto continued. "You didn't want to remind yourself, every day, that you couldn't save him. That you couldn't save my mom. _That's _why you wanted to kill everybody, 'cuz the way they looked at me felt like...like an insult to _them. _Some adoring public they were, huh? Ooh, yeah, we'll show Yondaime-sama's son what we're made of, all right."

_Now _there was some bitterness in Naruto's voice.

"You took your mother's name...or...the old man _gave _you her name...because not many people knew it. She was just Kushina to most of the villagers. Minato's girl. He thought that if he let you carry your father's name...that they wouldn't be able to contain themselves. That they'd...assassinate you. For...retribution, or some...stupid..."

"...Like Gaara," Naruto mumbled.

Jiraiya didn't say anything.

"D'you think...they _knew?" _Naruto asked. "That they...knew the village would...?"

"Ostracize you? I think Kushina suspected. Minato always was—_is _a bit of an idealist. He thought the village would...understand. He thought the Leaf, of all villages, would see the sacrifice you were making on their behalf. That you'd be a hero."

Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly.

Jiraiya wanted to reach over and ruffle his student's hair, for some reason, but he stopped himself. He said, "He should've known that heroes aren't born. They make themselves. Like he did. Like you're doing. Like _I..._well...should have done."

"Don't worry about it," Naruto mumbled. "I mean, hey, what kind of idiot would I be if you'd been around all the time? 'Sides...Iruka-sensei always stuck up for me. So did...so did Kakashi-sensei, now I think about it. Saw him a few times...y'know, before graduation. Always...kinda...watching me. Lookin' out for me. Least, that's what I always thought. Who knows with that guy."

"Better men than I."

"Oh, shut up, you came back," Naruto said, and gave Jiraiya a shove. "I'm not gonna start holding grudges or yelling at people. Never did me any good before, what good's it gonna do now? 'Sides, like I said before...if I didn't have this stupid thing trapped inside me, I'd be dead. That Haku guy would'a stomped me flat. And if I'm not mad at my dad for doing that...how'm I supposed to be mad at _you?_ You're just a pansy."

Jiraiya felt laughter bubble up in his throat, and he barely choked it back.

Naruto was grinning again.

"And anyway...you're the one who brought us all back here in the first place. So far's I see...we're even."

* * *

"...I _gave _you my _eye?!"_

Kimura didn't respond. There was no real reason to speak.

Obito was staring at Kakashi as if he were an alien. "So I _die, _and _this guy _gets my eye. What kinda raw deal is _that?! _I mean, weird enough that those freaks would go rooting around and removing my _organs, _but...what the _hell?"_

"You told me that you would have no use for it anymore," Kimura finally said. "And, seeing as how I went and...got my fool ass blinded by the enemy..." He cleared his throat, "...I may as well take one of yours, so that I'd still have depth perception. One awesome eye is better than none."

He said this all in a completely deadpan tone, but somehow...he still _sounded _like his former teammate. Obito stared at him for a while, nonplussed and clearly edging near the realm of panic, but Kimura just looked at him. The jounin looked as though he couldn't possibly care less whether Obito believed him or not.

"Why the hell would you guys come here, using some weirdo time travel crap, just to tell me I'm gonna die?!" Obito finally thundered. "I mean, what the hell's _that? _Is that, like, fun or something? You guys think that's entertaining? What _else _you gonna say, huh? The goddamn _Apocalypse _is happening, too? What about Sensei, huh? What's gonna happen to _him? _Where'd you learn a thousand damn jutsu, anyway? Copy Ninja, my ass! And who the hell's _this _guy?" Obito threw a hand over toward Sasuke.

"The second son of Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto," Kimura said.

"...Your cousin," Sasuke muttered.

"Oh, _great, _so Itachi has a brother! Well, at least I won't have to babysit _him, _right? Since I'll be _dead!"_

"Obito..." Rin murmured. "Calm down...you're not going to die."

"Not according to the Copy Ninja, here!"

"We're a team, Obito. We won't let you die."

"Apparently you _will! _And apparently _I'm _so stupid that not only am I gonna get myself killed by some stupid-ass _rock _ninja, but I'm gonna just go handing out my eyes for whoever the hell needs one! Hey, Rin, _you _want one? I'll have a spare! Don't matter if I'm blind, 'cuz I'm gonna be killed in a _cave-in _later!"

"Obito," Kakashi snapped. "Enough."

"Oh, sure, _you're _all calm and collected, you _thief!"_

Kimura closed his one visible eye and let out a long-suffering sort of sigh.

Obito stomped away, cursing and mumbling to himself as he did, leaving his teammates looking exhausted (Kakashi) and mortified (Rin). Kimura did not bother to follow the young chuunin, choosing instead to look up at the sky and pretend none of the others were there.

Sakura looked entirely unsure of what to do with herself, and Sasuke...well, looked like Sasuke.

"Just when I was starting to think he was _less _annoying than Naruto..."

Obito stopped. Stood rock-still for a long moment. He seemed to be thinking of something. And then, he whirled around and rushed back to the others. "Waitaminute!" he cried out, his former venom replaced with manic glee. "If that's my eye you got stuffed in your head, then...then..._I learned how to activate the sharingan?!?!"_

Kimura blinked.

Rin stared.

Sasuke and Kakashi both hung their heads and sighed.

"...Oh, for the love of God," they muttered in unison.

Sakura was the first to start laughing.

* * *

**_So...how'd I do? I know it doesn't make up for how long I made you wait last time, but I hope you liked it, anyway. It was definitely interesting to write; juggling emotions is always an engaging activity...albeit a rather confusing one._**

**_I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me. This is a tough one to write, for several reasons. But I'm not done by a long shot. I hope you'll continue to be patient with me._**

**_'Til then, au revoir._**


	21. From the Ashes

**_Those of you who have been following my sporadic updates lately will have heard that this year has been a difficult one for me. I sank into a hole, and have been clawing my way out for about 10 months or so. I think I've finally regained my footing. I won't go into a pity-party here; suffice it to say that if I'd tried to write anything during that period, it would have sucked out loud. Trust me on that one. It's taken a lot of time, a lot of contemplation, a lot of life changes, to finally reach the point where I can think creatively again, to say nothing of actually putting that creativity into words._**

**_This is the result of a mind that's finally working passably properly again. It doesn't make up for 10 months of silence, I know, but I hope you'll find it enjoyable nonetheless._**

**_

* * *

_**

"Do you honestly think that it was a good idea to leave them to their own devices after a bombshell like that?" Jiraiya asked. Kimura didn't actually raise an eyebrow, but nonetheless it _felt _like he did. The hermit chuckled nervously, and rubbed his hands on his pants. "Point taken. I did the same thing. Still, I'm not exactly the smartest old codger in the world, and let's face it…even if I was, this isn't exactly a normal situation."

Kimura still gave no immediate response. He seemed to chew on his words for a while before he finally said, slow and contemplative as though his compatriot had asked him the height of philosophical inquiries (and maybe he _had)_, "…Reminding them too often of our true natures will only alienate them from us."

"And the kids? Aren't _they _alienating themselves, too?"

"At the least, they are younger. This gives Obito and the others some vestige of control over the…situation. We, on the other hand, represent a threat."`

"Right, 'cuz Squad Seven doesn't represent a threat at _all, _right?"

Kimura smirked beneath his mask. "That wasn't what I meant. Stilll...I _would _be rather intrigued to see them…engaged. If they would only learn to work together, they would be a true force to behold. Raw talent has never had a clearer face."

Jiraiya wasn't sure which group Kimura was referencing; his own or…his own.

_Small wonder they call time travel a madman's errand, _the hermit thought._ My mind is already trying to eat itself._

Obito seemed to have gotten over his anger at hearing about his own death almost _too _quickly, and Jiraiya wasn't too sure that that was healthy _or _surprising, after he took some time to think about it. All things considered, Kimura's eye _did _prove that Obito had achieved his ultimate goal before meeting his end, and there was some amount of comfort and pride to take from that.

The pair of elder ninja watched the group as they digested the overflow of information currently invading their minds. Naruto, for his part, seemed to have finally regained his usual exuberance, and Jiraiya had to wonder why that was. Part of it may have had to do with the fact that Sakura wasn't ignoring him this time. She seemed downright friendly, which was such a rarity that it should have gone down as some sort of astrological _event, _and even though Naruto's conscious mind was currently dwelling on the revelation that he'd just met his (dead) parents, his subconscious mind had taken note of and appreciated the fact that his kunoichi companion was paying (positive) attention to him.

His smile didn't seem fake anymore.

Sasuke and Kakashi were taking great pains to ignore the conversation in which Obito was attempting to ensnare them, and Jiraiya sensed a certain camaraderie between them. They had a shared mission: shun the idiot. It made Jiraiya think back on his own teammates, and he felt a stab of empathy for Obito.

Rin was entirely unreadable. Her attention was divided amongst the two groups: Naruto and Sakura, who were engaged in conversation; and Sasuke and Kakashi, who weren't. She tried to join in on Obito's sermon, but he didn't seem to hear her.

"He was always like that," Kimura mused, and Jiraiya looked at him, wondering not for the first time if the silver-haired son of the White Fang could read minds. "When he got onto a particular topic, and his thoughts outpaced his brain, he would never notice when other people wanted to speak. He'll remember that Rin was trying to talk to him about six hours too late, while he's lying in bed, staring at the ceiling and waiting for the sharingan to activate."

"She looks rather pitiful," Jiraiya said, raising an eyebrow at Kimura. "Everyone else has some ground-breaking revelation to process. Obito has his own death, Kakashi has to figure out what _your _deal is. Sakura is realizing Naruto isn't the raving moron she thought he was. Sasuke is still wondering what the holy hell he's supposed to do about Itachi. And Naruto…well."

"…How did they take the news?" Kimura wondered idly.

"Surprisingly well," Jiraiya said. "They always _did _adapt quickly. Must be where Naruto picked it up. Wasn't a half-hour until they both felt like parents. Papa Wolf and Mama Hawk, and they didn't even have to wait for the pregnancy."

Kimura smirked again.

Jiraiya looked back at the young ninja. "…Should we impart some kind of world-bending wisdom onto Rin, just so she can—"

_"No."_

Jiraiya blinked.

Time froze, and the hermit's lungs froze with it.

Kimura's remaining black eye was blazing, and all traces of humor had gone from his face.

Dread had turned the most unshakable ninja in Konoha's military into a breathing corpse.

Jiraiya didn't even bother to ask.

He understood _all _too well.

* * *

"What do you make of it, Minato?"

The Yellow Flash wasn't a man with a penchant for lying, which was decidedly odd considering his profession. But then, love had a way of doing that to someone, and Minato hadn't had to spend more than an hour with his future bride to know that Kushina detested dishonesty. It had leaked into him over the time they'd spent together since then.

But just because Namikaze Minato was honest didn't mean that he was stupid.

He knew better.

He said, "…I have no idea, sir. He's been traveling for who knows how long. Could be anything. He doesn't really look _that _much older, does he? Could be all his debauchery is finally catching up to him."

The Third Hokage wasn't stupid, either, though. Minato was as certain as he'd ever been of anything that the old man knew his prized soldier was lying to him. Sarutobi's eyes were narrowing, and Minato felt nervous. But he stood his ground.

"It could be that _I'm _growing too old to properly judge things like this," he said.

"Don't be ridiculous," Minato said. "You're not old."

Sarutobi scoffed. "Flattery, Minato? It doesn't work for Jiraiya, and I can assure you that it won't work for you."

"I've been told that I'm quite charming, sir."

"And _I've _been told that the Hidden Rock simply wants to negotiate."

Minato chuckled. "Point taken, sir."

"Jiraiya's gotten himself into something…off-putting," Sarutobi said. "Again. I suspect that you know more than you're telling, but I also suspect that there is a reason for your secrecy. Make sure that your loyalty to your mentor does not compromise your loyalty to this village."

"Of course, sir."

"See if you can't convince Jiraiya to tell me this secret he's keeping."

"Understood, sir."

"…Go on, then. Give Kushina my best."

Minato bowed, and vanished.

When he found Kushina, she was strolling aimlessly through the village, carrying a basket of various foodstuffs. He fell into step beside her, and this time he didn't bother trying to startle her. She said, "I think I'm getting used to this quicker than I thought," she said after a while.

Minato wasn't sure what she meant by that, so he said, "…Didn't you just go shopping?"

Kushina shrugged. "I forgot a few things. If what you've told me about Naruto's eating habits is actually true, then I'm thinking the poor boy hasn't had a properly cooked meal in his life. And I know you believe Jiraiya-sama just as much as I do. So I think it's our job to fix that, don't you?"

Minato blinked. "…Yes?" _I have a son, _he thought. "You have something special planned, then?"

Kushina's smile was almost predatory, and there was a gleam in her eye. "Oh, yes. And _you _are going to help me."

"I…what?"

"You heard me. It's _our _job. That means you, too."

"But I…don't…_cook."_

"So I've heard. It's such a shame that I don't care. Come with me."

Minato suddenly had a _very _bad feeling about this.

Kushina seemed to know this, and found it entirely too amusing.

"…Why do I get the feeling that we're acclimating to this _way _too quickly?" Minato mused as he followed his (executioner) fiancée. "Shouldn't we be more…I don't know, shocked? Furious? Scared? Giddy? _Drunk?"_

Kushina chuckled. "The first thing I learned about your mentor is that _nothing _is too off the wall for him to accomplish. If any ninja was going to be capable of time travel, it would _have _to be Jiraiya-sama. I could be frightened, or angry, or any number of other emotions. None of them are going to be all that helpful. I figure we should just…do what comes naturally. And right now, that means giving my son a home-cooked meal."

"My son…" Minato repeated.

Kushina was grinning now, and Minato couldn't help but follow her lead.

"Our son," they said in unison.

* * *

Rin could take a hint. She eventually decided that everyone would be better off if she left to do her own thing. None of the others seemed to notice her. Well, Kakashi did, but then Kakashi noticed everything. He seemed to give her a sympathetic, almost apologetic look, but he didn't move.

She didn't get ten feet from where her companions, old and new, were still embroiled in insanity before Kimura and Jiraiya seemed to _appear _directly in front of her. She didn't bother to blink, to look around, or anything of that nature. Her teacher was the fastest ninja in Konoha, and this was nothing new to her. She bowed her head.

"If you have any questions," Kimura said, "feel free to ask them. We will answer if we can."

She couldn't help but hear, _If we decide to, _in that tone of voice, but said nothing. She simply smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

"Lord only knows how little _we _understand about this debacle of a technique," Jiraiya murmured.

"It was your idea. Best to accept that you jumped into it without thinking," Kimura said.

"Mm," was Jiraiya's only reply.

"What kind of effect will this have on the future?" Rin wondered.

"The river of time corrects its own course, and no work by the hand of mankind can hope to disrupt it completely," Jiraiya muttered cryptically. "I'm not going to pretend I have any clue as to the implications, but somehow I don't think we have much of anything to be worried about."

"Are you only saying that because you're afraid something will happen that you won't be able to fix?" Rin asked pointedly, and Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you saying that because you _hope _you won't inadvertantly do something that will disrupt the future forever?"

"...I hate smart children," Jiraiya grumbled.

Kimura seemed to be smiling. "Put into that perspective, I'm not sure we have any excuse to keep the Hokage in the dark anymore," he said, crossing his arms and raising his single visible eyebrow.

Jiraiya scowled and heaved a disgusted sigh. "Hngh."

"You make a good point, Rin," Kimura said. _You always were the smartest of us, _he thought.

Rin didn't look all that pleased with the compliment. She was frowning. "All of you...you're from our future?"

"We are," Kimura said, when Jiraiya proved unable to speak. He seemed deep in thought.

"Why did you come back? Was it...was it just to see what would happen? Was it to see Obito-kun again? Was it...was it to see Sensei again?"

Jiraiya gave a full-body spasm.

A light seemed to go on in Rin's eyes. "What happened to Sensei? Something happened to him, didn't it? Something in the future. You know something, don't you?"

Jiraiya recoiled from each question as if they were weapons stabbing him through the heart.

_Smartest...and most intuitive, _Kimura thought.

"Sensei..." he said, sighing, "...became the Fourth. We all knew he would. And he became a legend. The pinnacle of what a Hokage should be. The herald of a new age. The bringer of a new hope. When people think of the position of Hokage, they think of him."

Rin's frown deepend. "...He won't be Hokage for long, will he?"

Kimura took a breath. "No. He...will not."

"What happened?" He didn't answer immediately. Jiraiya seemed not to hear. "Kakashi! What happened?"

Kimura closed his eye and hung his head.

"...Come on, Rin. Let's gather the others. This...this story...will take a while."

* * *

"Minato, you can't walk away from it like that! You're going to scorch the pan!"

Minato had conducted missions the likes of which would send most men twice his age reeling in terror. He'd seen things, he'd _done _things, that sent lesser men to their knees. He'd had lives, dozens of them, relying on a single moment, a snap-judgment, a split-second reaction so fast that the eye couldn't follow it. And he'd done it, by God. He'd done it so many times that he couldn't remember.

"Ow! Damn it!"

"That's what pot-holders are for."

"I should have known. You're not a woman. You're not even human. You're some kind of witch, and you've got me under some kind of spell. That's it. That _must _be it. This is voodoo, is what it is, and I don't appreciate being duped into participating in it."

Kushina gave him a look, and rolled her eyes. "It's _soup."_

"It's _devil _soup, you harpy!"

The fire-haired woman with a temper to match stepped past him and tossed a knife into his hand. "Go chop something before you hurt yourself. You're good with a knife, aren't you? Isn't that something they teach you?"

Minato gave his wife-to-be a sour look and stalked away. _"Yes, _they _teach _is how to use _knives. _Oh-ho, look at me, I'm so funny, I make jokes while my husband gets sucked into a _hell _dimension because I'm a _witch. _I'm a human sacrifice. She's fattening me up, is what she's doing."

"Hush. I intend to tell Naruto that _we _made this meal, and you'd better make sure you don't screw that up, or I'll take it out of your hide. I may not be a shoe-in for the next Hokage, but don't think I can't inflict damage. Don't you dare."

Minato stuck his tongue out at the back of Kushina's head.

"I saw that," she said.

"Yeah, I'll bet you did. Witch."

"Get moving. I don't hear choppy-choppy."

Minato grumbled incoherently as he set to work.

He wondered what Naruto was doing, and whether or not it was half as traumatic.

* * *

Everyone seated around them like this, it felt like a classroom, and Kimura couldn't help but think for a moment that it was a shame that Iruka hadn't joined them on this particular excersion; he would have been right at home here.

"So, uh...where d'we start?" Naruto asked, after silence had reigned for a minute or so.

"Question of the day, isn't it?" Jiraiya murmured.

"We already know who you are," Rin said, "so there's no need to go over that again."

"Guess it's no shocker you made jounin," Obito said, gesturing to Kimura. "Can't say's I'd have expected you to do the whole work-coach thing. Students? _You?"_

Kimura chuckled and shrugged. "No one was more surprised than I when I...decided to do it. You and Rin...always thought it would be fulfilling, and engaging, to teach younger ninja and prepare them for their lives. I suppose I...I suppose it rubbed off on me."

"Doesn't change the fact that he was the pickiest damn field instructor the village ever had," Jiraiya put in. "Couldn't get this guy to take on a squad to save his job. Almost got taken out of the program a good six times before _these _yahoos finally came along and impressed him."

Kakashi, Rin, and Obito all glanced over at their younger counterparts as if wondering what it was about these three that could have impressed Kimura. Naruto shrugged, Sakura blushed, and Sasuke stared straight ahead as if no one else were around.

"When Sensei took on the mantle of Hokage," Kimura said, "things...changed. He didn't hold much for rigid tradition. His line of reasoning when it came to any mission was, 'get the job done, but rules be damned if it comes between you and a comrade.' He would say that if the death of one of ours was necessary to complete a mission, then the only person allowed to make the call was the one going under the knife."

Obito grinned. He seemed to appreciate this.

Kakashi's expression darkened.

"That became the...collective belief of the village, under his leadership. Let every man stand for himself, let every woman stand for herself, and let no superior officer send his subordinates into the field without him. He was the first Hokage to...continue to undertake missions as a jounin, even after his enstatement. No one quite knows how he was able to do such a thing _and _manage to carry out his various duties, but...his presence boosted the morale of our men so high that it didn't really matter. There is nothing on earth that can stop a soldier fighting for a leader he believes in. But a soldier fighting _at the side _of a leader he believes in can storm the gates of heaven."

Jiraiya blinked, looking surprised.

Obito's grin reached his ears.

Kakashi was incredulous.

"We were invincible," Kimura continued. "We stood at the top of the world, and our enemies could no more pull us down than they could pull themselves up. Namikaze Minato, our leader. Our protector. Our savior. He was immortal, and we were immortal."

He sounded like he was giving a sermon. He sounded like some sort of over-enthusiastic acolyte of an obscure cult, trying to convert unbelievers into the brotherhood. He wasn't sure why, but all the same, he thought that it was the only way to tell the story. He couldn't think of any other words to encompass what had happened. Why it had happened.

What it meant.

It was a shining, warm, beautiful day. Wind fell in with a soft breeze that tickled the senses and promised all things green and lively and wonderful. The grass sprang beneath his feet, the trees stood stolid and proud around them, the leaves russled as if dancing. There was no other way to take these things, to crush these things underfoot and take the minds of these young, strong, courageous people in front of him and throw them into darkness...without sounding like a raving lunatic.

He could smell the forest, could smell it living.

And beneath that, he could smell it dying.

It smelled like ash.

Like fire.

Like a demon.

"Anyone in his right mind would have evacuated the village that night," Kimura said, and his eye was no longer focused. He was no longer there. No longer himself. He was the boy seated in front of him, with two eyes, two black eyes, and he wasn't there. "Anyone in his right mind would have gathered every man, woman, child, every animal, every _everything, _and ran. But Sensei...no, Sensei was never in his right mind. Sensei never thought about the sensible thing to do, nor even the _right _thing to do. Sensei only ever thought about the thing to do that kept the people happy. That kept them standing tall and proud. And he fought."

Did any of this make sense? Was anybody understanding a word of it?

He didn't know.

He didn't even hear himself. All he could hear was the fire. The screaming, the crying, the _roaring _fire.

It was that night again.

"Kushina-sama..." he whispered, in the broken voice of a boy half his age, "...Kushina-sama is dying. She can hardly breathe, she's...she's been injured. No. No, no, this can't...she has to live. Damn it all to the nine hells, Kushina-sama has to _live! _Who else will...who else will...?"

Eyes.

Wide eyes.

Frightened eyes.

_His _eyes.

"The fox...the fox is attacking. Destroying. Killing. The village is...is...the village? The village is damned. No one will live past tonight. No one. Not Kushina-sama. Not Minato-sensei. Not their...their baby son. None of them. We're all dying. We're all damned. The fox is punishing us."

"Fox? What fox?"

"The...the nine-tailed fox."

"The Kyuubi."

"That's just a myth! I...Isn't it?"

"Sensei! Sensei, this is insane! You can't fight it! You can't hold it off! We're all going to die, and the only thing left is going to be..._this! _Look behind you, man! Look behind you and see what this thing is doing to us! No human can fight against this! No ninja can defend against this!"

The ground is closer.

The grass...the grass has grown back.

The fire is gone.

Kimura blinked, looked up, looked around...and couldn't comprehend.

Couldn't think.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "And here I was thinking you were unshakable, Kakashi. Who knows? We might still be human, after all."

He stared at the man.

Jiraiya-sama.

He looked around.

His younger self was standing, and staring at the man.

And his younger self said what he could not.

Kakashi said, "...How do we stop this from happening?"


	22. A Handshake with the Devil

_**Are there words? Unfortunately, I don't think there are.**_

_**I'll be straight with you: this is hard to write. Not just because of characterization or plot development or anything else logistic like that. It's just that my interest in this series has been waning for a long time now, and I've been struggling for a long time to rekindle it.**_

_**That's the main reason. Secondary reasons include things like internships, an editing job at a magazine (unpaid, but hey, it's work), transferring to University, getting robbed and losing my $1300 gaming computer, reading far too much for my brain's own good (12 textbooks for one semester? Seriously?), and…God only knows how many more excuses.**_

_**The short of it is, I have a tough time with this one.**_

_**That said, I'm not done with it. I have no intention of giving up on it. I think I finally hit on a way to handle the newer developments in the plotline of the manga/anime, and found a reasonable way to handle the story from here on out.**_

_**I won't even bother making a prediction on how long it will take me to get the next one out, because I have a very limited amount of free time lately. Nonetheless, that seems to be what actually inspired me to write this batch of scenes. So maybe it will work out for the better.**_

_**To those of you who have been waiting for nine months for an update, I'm so sorry for the unforgivable delay. I hope that you find the following scenes enjoyable. For those of you who've stumbled upon this story recently, welcome. Have a good time, and let me know what you think.**_

_**Let's begin, shall we?**_

* * *

Jiraiya thought of the ways he'd once tried to do it. With cries of honor and virtue and loyalty. He thought of the begging, the sniveling and bleating and screeching. He thought of his self-righteous fury, of his sense of superiority and the naked arrogance with which he'd always come. He thought of how fundamentally useless each attempt had always been, and how the dark corridors and the desolate landscapes where those meetings had always taken place had been a metaphor for his self-esteem every time he'd been turned away.

He thought of these things, and he thought of the years that separated him from them. He threw them aside. They did nobody any good, not him and not anyone else. The dead have no horse in the race of good versus evil, and they couldn't care less about whether a righteous man or a wicked one sent them to their graves. It came down to whether or not wickedness could save them.

What did he care about dirty hands? He had no pride anymore. He hadn't been able to afford pride ever since he'd given up on the man in front of him right now; ever since real life had murdered his ideals and he'd been left grieving for them.

The legendary hermit, the wandering frog, the sage of swamps and bane of bath-houses, stood in the presence of pure wickedness and his hackles did not rise.

He said, in a voice that croaked like the animals he summoned, "Good evening. Brother."

Eyes did not open and gleam from the pitch blackness of the shadows. Nothing so childishly dramatic as that. His voice didn't echo so that no one could tell where he was. Jiraiya knew precisely where his unholy compatriot sat: in the far right corner of the room, staring at him with incredulous amusement. When he spoke, Orochimaru's voice didn't slither, nor crawl, nor tingle up his spine.

It sounded perfectly normal.

"You look atrocious."

The hermit actually found a chuckle. "I'm sure I do."

"Would you care to explain why? And while we're on the subject of you…why are you _here?"_

"Feeling sentimental and stupid, I guess," Jiraiya said. He was aware of every imperfection of his own appearance, and for the first time in thirty years he felt like he should have cleaned himself up before this meeting. Like he was meeting with a probation officer…or an executioner. "I'm getting old, you know. It's getting harder to replace old friends with new ones."

"Are we friends, then?"

"You're probably the closest analogue I've got anymore. How sad is that?"

"Quite."

Jiraiya lowered himself to the floor, pulling his legs underneath him. "Mind if I sit?"

"Not at all."

The man's voice was silken, but it had none of the sinister, snake-like hiss that Jiraiya remembered whenever he thought of his old teammate. Orochimaru sounded far less than interested in this conversation, but he also didn't sound particularly offended by it. It was like he was engaging in a small break from his real work by tossing a ball against the wall; except the ball was Jiraiya's mind, and every bounce was like a lightning bolt of self-doubt and self-loathing. Because even now, as he scrambled to find the right words for what he intended to do, Jiraiya knew full well _what _he intended to do, and that he may as well have been at a crossroads burying a bunch of trinkets beneath the dirt in the hopes of summoning a demon to whom he might barter with his soul.

"Tell me something," the hermit said, suddenly understanding how to proceed. "How much do you know about the Uchiha?"

"Just enough to disgust me," Orochimaru murmured mildly. "Why?"

"If I told you that Madara was still alive, how much would it surprise you?"

"…Not much."

"And if I told you that that family will be responsible for two of the worst catastrophes in this village's history, how much would _that _surprise you?"

"Perhaps an inkling more. What is the aim of this string of hypotheticals, Jiraiya?"

"I never was all that good at dealing with you," Jiraiya admitted, staring off at the opposite corner of the room as the spot where his old partner sat. "I always expected you to behave like I would. To be motivated by my catalysts, and driven by my desires. I'm…trying something new."

A shifting, as of body weight. "You are…strange."

Jiraiya chuckled again. "Aren't I, though?"

"Your body," Orochimaru amended. "Even with the strain _you _put it through, it wouldn't have deteriorated at such a rate as it evidently has. You have been gone from this village for eleven months. You look to have aged more than ten times that much."

Jiraiya squinted. "Genius, indeed."

"I am a scientist, Jiraiya. I am intimately familiar with how the human body decays."

"And somehow, I am _not _disgusted by that."

"What has been done to you?" The voice was urgent now. Years earlier, Jiraiya might have mistaken that for honest concern for an old friend. But he knew better now. Orochimaru only engaged in the frivolities of social discourse if it benefited him. The man wanted to know what happened so that he might replicate it. He was hungry for information, and that was all. Nothing more that. Absolutely nothing.

Jiraiya had been counting on that. "Nothing was done to me. It's something I did."

And he told Orochimaru the story. How he'd happened across the woman on the outskirts of an abandoned homestead, and how she'd told him that her "gifts" frightened people, especially the family for whom she'd once worked.

"They think me a witch," she'd said in a raspy, chewed-glass voice, and Jiraiya replicated it almost too easily. "But you have _real _knowledge buried beneath that debauchery of yours, don't you? Yes. They call you ninja. Specter of death from the forests. Don't they call you so?"

She'd known things, like how his mother had died and how the Hidden Leaf had been founded. She'd told him about the first ninja, about the evolution of his most morbid profession, as though from a ringside perspective.

"She called herself a drifter," Jiraiya said, "like me. She said she traveled through the past like I did the present, just sort of wandering where the wind might take her. Learning about…everything."

"There is some level of relevance to this…story." It didn't sound like a threat, but felt like it should have been. Jiraiya could feel one of the man's eyebrows raise. His interest was tenuous at best, and on the precipice of tossing itself off a cliff. Jiraiya had no choice, however, but to bait him further. The hook hadn't caught yet.

"She taught me."

"The technique."

"Yes." He could sense the folly of this plan coming straight for him like a typhoon on a suicidal rampage, but he could also tell that the ploy was working. Too many chips were on the table to fold now. "I used it to come back….here."

"Not alone."

"No. I brought my student. And his team. And their commander."

"Fascinating." Jiraiya heard sincerity, and felt half-relieved, half-sickened for it. "And this talk of Madara and his clan, of these catastrophes…you have experienced them."

"I have."

A snap of light bathed the room into flickering focus. Jiraiya could now see his teammate's face. His severe, gaunt, but recognizably human face. Glinting eyes were awash with hungry interest as Orochimaru leaned back, paradoxically calm.

The fact that he _looked, _as well as sounded, human only made it worse. Orochimaru said, "…And why do you bring this to me…? Surely you should be bringing this information to the attention of your beloved protégé. He's rumored to take our teacher's seat." Bitterness? It was so natural that Jiraiya couldn't tell.

"He's young. Idealistic. Caught up in the honor and integrity of a fair fight. You aren't. Like I'm coming to realize, myself, the ninja world isn't about integrity. It's about survival. I'm coming to you with an offer."

Silkily, Orochimaru purred, "…And that offer is…?"

Jiraiya heaved a sigh, wiped his hands on his pants, and spoke before he could think better of it: "If you help me to save this village…help me _keep _this village safe for the people that matter to me…help me keep them alive…and I'll teach you."

* * *

She'd always thought that Naruto was a wild and contrary sort of person simply because of bad blood and a lack of a proper upbringing. A good portion of her _still _believed that, or at least parts of it, but she was beginning to see another side of it, too.

Seeing what Naruto was like when he was surrounded by people who considered him family, Sakura couldn't help but second-guess her long-held conclusions. On the one hand, it all but proved her no-parents hypothesis; but on the other, it also proved that he wasn't—even now—anything even resembling a hopeless case.

He was still boisterous, still laughing and grinning; he was still crude, still a hopeless prankster. But Kushina and Minato, his family, somehow made it different. The way they laughed right along with him, joked right back, made it feel like a tradition rather than an abnormality; endearing—cute, even—rather than annoying.

Perhaps it had to do with the fact that Minato was, for lack of a more tactful way of putting it, the oldest kid she'd ever met. He was a hero, and he was loyal. He was strong, he was smart, he was ungodly fast. But it didn't seem fair to say that he was an "adult." Not in the standard sense of the word by any stretch. All this was to say, Naruto was undeniably his father's son. And watching the way Minato engaged with people, how he handled his team and how he treated his fiancée, Sakura couldn't help but wonder…what was so bad about that?

Then she thought of Jiraiya, the current topic of discussion around the dinner table, and a shudder went up her spine.

"Sounds like those books of his are actually _famous," _Minato was saying. "Sequels and signings, the whole package."

"Mm-hm," said Naruto as he gulped down a bowl of soup. "Don't get it, anyway—_wow, _this is good—but people like 'em. A _lot. _Ask Sensei."

All eyes turned to Kimura, who stared back at them, stone-faced and without the faintest indication that he ever intended to respond. He'd bolted down his own meal with such inhuman speed that—yet again—no one had managed even a cursory glance at his most elusive face. His young counterpart was similarly finished, similarly covered, similarly elusive. They both sat, similarly observing. They seemed perfectly content with absolute silence.

"You?" Minato asked. "A Hatake? Engaged in such lewd literature? Scandalous!" Laughter twinkled in the man's eyes. "I like it."

"You don't know it's lewd," Kushina admonished. "…_That _lewd," she amended quickly.

"It's Sensei we're talking about. The man made a military career out of going ten steps too far into the abnormal."

"That doesn't seem quite fair, Minato—"

"Amphibious pole-dancers," said Minato, Rin, and Obito as one entirely exasperated voice. Kushina blinked, staring at each of them in turn.

"He's right, Mom," Naruto said without thinking. "I don't call him a perverted hermit 'cuz he's straight-laced. It's pretty sad. Like, what he calls inspiration, most people would call _stalking. _But, you know, I really don't figure he cares. And it's not like he's got much to worry about. He's gotten himself beat down so many times, I'm pretty sure he's worked up an immunity."

It had come out unbidden and without preamble, that word. Mom. Naruto, too focused on his meal, still didn't seem to notice anything amiss. But Kushina had heard it, and Kushina reacted. She looked ready to start crying as a big, dopey grin spread on her face. Covering it up by wiping her mouth with the napkin at her right hand, she said, "Fair enough."

"Where _is _he, anyway?" Minato wondered, with a similar grin creeping along his own face. "He loves telling the frog-stripper story. I'd have thought he'd jump in through the window as soon as we started talking about it. Like Bloody Mary."

Naruto snickered into his bowl.

Minato smirked.

"He said that he would have to join you another time," said Kimura with a solemn sort of voice. "He had urgent business of a delicate nature to conduct, to use his specific words."

"That's…extremely unsurprising," Minato said.

"Did it hafta do with us?" Naruto put in.

Kimura raised an eyebrow. "Likely enough."

"He always does this," Naruto groaned. "Whenever somebody invites him to do anything, he finds somethin' he's gotta do to get out of it."

"I'm _shocked," _said Sasuke, the first input he'd had to a conversation since his run-in with Itachi. He still looked less than engaged…which was largely normal. It was perhaps this stoic introversion that had first attracted—so to speak—Naruto to his fellow genin. Sasuke never looked particularly interested in being social, and even when he was fully enthralled in a conversation (which was rare), he still managed to look distant. Like he wasn't actually there.

"Not…exactly," Minato said, and his smile turned almost sad. "The man can't enjoy himself if he has work to finish. Not without drinking himself into oblivion, anyway. If he sits idle when there are threats at hand or…business of a delicate nature to conduct, he gets fidgety and distracted. I think he would like nothing more than to join us. But right now…trust me when I say that he can't."

Naruto stared rather intently at his father, as if trying to decide if he believed this spin or not. Eventually he nodded.

And that seemed to be the end of it.

Sakura sighed, resting her chin on the heel of one hand, and thought that this was the worst idea ever. She was starting to doubt every notion she'd ever had about why people behave the way they do. The next thing she knew, she'd hear that Itachi was a misunderstood martyr, or Orochimaru was just some…misunderstood scientist.

"…And the Kyuubi's just some fluffy little angel on someone's shoulder," she muttered.

"Hm? You say something, Sakura-chan?" Naruto piped up.

Sakura blinked. "…No. Just mumbling to myself. This _is _good." She spooned a bite of soup and put on a fake smile. "Better than my mom makes."

She didn't miss the looks Kimura, Kakashi, Rin, Sasuke, Kushina, and Minato were all giving her. It struck her that it was never a good idea to lie to a room full of ninja, especially since she'd always been a rather pathetic liar.

But they seemed to accept her answer, and moved on with the Jiraiya conversation. Minato started telling the frog-stripper story in his teacher's absence, and soon nobody was paying any particular amount of attention to her, and she sighed with relief.

At least, she thought, Naruto hadn't noticed anything amiss.

Maybe.

* * *

"Can you tell? If he's telling you the truth?"

Orochimaru wasn't like most people. He wasn't like most _ninja. _In spite of or perhaps _because _of a shinobi's training, he was often left on edge at sudden noises, be they voices or…not. Most ninja, upon hearing a disembodied voice, would be put on immediate alert, and their hand would go instinctively for a weapon. But Orochimaru was not such a person. His face didn't twitch a micrometer. He said, calm and collected and supremely unconcerned: "If he is, it certainly explains a number of inconsistencies. You have a most unsavory habit of thinking yourself immune to the danger of lying to me."

"Such hubris."

The voice was familiar, infuriatingly familiar, but in spite of how long he'd been corresponding with this man's voice, Orochimaru had yet to place a name to it. If there was one thing that _did _put him on edge about this man…it was the voice.

"A civilian's name for the unhappy truth of his inadequacy," Orochimaru said; the next step in the poisonous dance that was their relationship. "I've no time nor tolerance for it. If I am so weak as to fall to your skills…such as they are…so be it."

"What if I am simply the same? I am unconcerned with the gap of power between us, regardless of which of us is on the side closer to God. Old friend."

"If that were true, you would not abridge yourself with me." For the first time, the irritation visited his face. He realized that the annoyance, the irritation, had likely just made his decision for him. At first, he had found this verbal fencing passably amusing.

Now, it was just tiresome.

"Believe me if you like. Think me a liar if you like. My concern is with your allegiance. What will you do, Orochimaru? Will you take the frog hermit at his word? Accept his offer?"

"I've not yet decided," Orochimaru lied.

"You gave the impression to me that your devotion to this village had ended."

Orochmiaru snorted derisively. He could never see the figure of his new companion, but it didn't matter. He did not concern himself with such a pedestrian handicap as a reliance on his eyes. He said, directing his voice to the room at large and _imagining_ the smug superiority on the face of his newest enemy: "This is not a question of loyalty. For once, it seems that Jiraiya understands. A scholar has no need for shackles. I do not do this for pride of country. I do this for its own sake. It leads to an end which I find…acceptable."

"So the decision has been made?"

"If that is what you choose to believe."

A moment of silence. "Rather hypocritical of you to proclaim a distaste for crooked answers when you cannot seem to give a straight one, yourself."

Orochimaru knew better than to give straight answers to a man like this. He didn't fear for his safety; he'd never feared for his safety. Not from a belief that he would triumph over any obstacle, but from a belief that he was engaged in a war with his own death; if it was his lot in life to lose that war, there was little that fearing the outcome would accomplish. This was no defense mechanism. It simply wasn't how things were done. Orochimaru knew that.

"I give only what others have earned from me."

"Aha. And I have earned betrayal, then."

"That you ask the question is…rather laughable." The dark eyes of the Third Hokage's most prized former student glinted with darker amusement. He felt that he'd regained his equilibrium, and that was…pleasant. "You earned betrayal the very moment you opted to work with _me."_

* * *

_**I've never written Orochimaru before, but it's been mentioned that I should put him into the plotline. I make no promises as to the accuracy of my portrayal, and fully admit that I haven't done enough research on the series timeline to determine whether these scenes make sense in light of canon.**_

_**However, I hope that the introduction of everyone's favorite (or not) snake-charmer was enjoyable for those who have been asking for him. I always found Orochimaru fascinating, and I think he'll provide the spark of intrigue that I've been needing to work out the plotline for this story. I do have an endgame in mind; I'm just not sure how things are going to unfold.**_

_**I hope that, in spite of my sporadic updating schedule, you will join me on the journey.**_

_**It's been a lot of fun so far, and I don't see that changing.**_

_**See you next time; be good to one another.**_


	23. Snares

_**A succinct and insightful piece of feedback from someone who chose to remain anonymous helped to guide the structure of this chapter. For that, I must thank you. In light of this, I've opted to do two things with this chapter: begin to address the "Uchiha" part of the equation (sow the seeds, if you will), and opt for a more structured setup.**_

_**Previous chapters, as "Anonymous" has pointed out, have been rather chaotic. I jump from scene to scene, partly to showcase events that are happening directly alongside each other but also partly because my own inspiration for this story is sporadic. My mind jumps around a lot with this story in particular, and I often simply write scenes as they come to me. Sometimes, the story suffers for that.**_

_**So, this chapter is broken up into a number of scenes that occur in sequence, and are presented from the point of view of a single character: one that hasn't had much in the way of screen-time.**_

* * *

"What is this talk of the Frog Hermit training one of my own?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was a calm, stern man. He led his village with a firm hand, and did not abide by rudeness. Therefore, he was immediately put on edge when the doors to his private offices were unceremoniously tossed open by Uchiha Fugaku. The tone of the Uchiha leader's voice as he asked this question did nothing to help.

"It is what it is," Sarutobi said slowly. "Talk. I have not met this boy. As of right now, I can tell you no more than any other villager on his identity or character."

Fugaku crossed his arms and sat down across from the Hokage's desk. "Ludicrous," he said. "I know every member of my family by name and face. The only Sasuke I've ever heard of was your esteemed father."

Sarutobi frowned thoughtfully. He, too, had never heard of this boy called Uchiha Sasuke. As yet, he hadn't been able to coerce any information out of Jiraiya _or _Minato, the only people likely to talk to him. A suspicion was beginning to scratch its way into the back end of his conscious mind, but so far he hadn't allowed it any serious consideration. Rather, he was left in precisely the same position as the man staring daggers into his skull.

He said, "I'm looking into it. As of this moment, the matter seems of little consequence to me. Indeed, I would request that you turn your energy to more pressing matters. Matters of safety, rather than matters of pride, if you understand my meaning." It was said that Sarutobi Hiruzen possessed a glare that would have forced the sun itself to cool, for fear of crossing him. He leveled just such a glare onto Uchiha Fugaku, who had a most unsavory habit of believing himself to be on a level with the Hokage's office.

Without the eyes of the Uchiha, he was fond of saying, the Hidden Leaf would be a smattering of children playing at war.

Fugaku harrumphed. "Do you not think that this is a matter of village security? An unknown child from God knows where comes sauntering onto our lands bearing _my _name, claiming _my _blood, and you are content to turn a blind eye to it? I am not. My eyes are many things. They are most assuredly _not _blind."

No, Sarutobi thought. Merely clouded by hubris.

"My student vouches for this boy," Sarutobi said sharply. "I have no reason to believe his judgment to be in error. Regardless of his flagrant inability to account for the emotions of fellow adults, Jiraiya has always been a talent with children." Sensing that this carried little weight with the man, Sarutobi went on: "If you _must _assuage your concerns, I would advise you to take them up with Jiraiya personally. I currently know little about this particular situation, as it is outside my current purview."

Fugaku stood. "I sometimes wonder how wise it was to elect you as our leader. If this is the extent of your ability to control the security of this village, I no longer wonder."

Sarutobi's expression did not change. "The security of this village is your prerogative, Fugaku. I am glad to see you harbor passion for it. Do not mistake your passions for mine. If you would please go about your duties, I have a personal matter to which I must attend. Give my regards to your family."

Fugaku scowled, whirled on a heel, and stalked out of the room without another word.

* * *

Namikaze Minato was not the perfect ninja; indeed, the Third Hokage was of the general opinion that there was no such thing. However, in one regard, the jounin popularly pegged as Sarutobi's successor was as close to perfect as any mortal man could be: he was swift, silent, and unpredictable. Such that Sarutobi glanced up from his desk one moment and saw nothing; he glanced up from his desk another moment, and there he stood: Konoha's Yellow Flash, stone-faced and serious, standing at parade rest.

"You called for me," Minato said.

Sarutobi stood and rounded his desk, nodding. "I did, Minato. I have spoken to you before on the subject of Jiraiya's new students."

"That you have, Hokage-sama," Minato offered, without the faintest twitch in facial expression.

"I want to know one, very simple, thing." Sarutobi studied the young ninja's face. "How would you evaluate their skills?"

"All three would be well above chuunin-level, if they could manage to coordinate their particular abilities to the point of real cohesion," Minato said. His tone was all-business, not at all like his usual personality. This was typical whenever time neared for Minato to take his team out on a mission. Still, there was something in the particular rigidity of his stance that bespoke something different. The Third Hokage wondered if it could be as simple as having his teacher back within shouting distance. Jiraiya always had a strange effect on the man.

Somehow, Sarutobi doubted it was quite that simple. Something was amiss.

"What do you think is keeping them from working together?" Sarutobi asked, deciding it would only complicate things if he asked what was wrong.

"Youth, mostly," Minato said. Sarutobi fished his pipe from a pocket and tucked it into his mouth. As he worked through his other pockets to find tobacco, he raised an eyebrow at Minato, who went on: "You could say they suffer from the same issues that plagued my own students when they first started working together. Sasuke apparently wasn't raised in the company of his family, but he clearly shares their most prominent traits: determination, natural ability, and arrogance."

"This conflicts with the others," Sarutobi guessed.

"With Naruto. He's…different. From what Sensei tells me, he raised himself. He's had his own apartment since he was about seven years old. A real underdog. No formal training before entering the academy. Worked his ass off, if you'll pardon my phrasing."

"And…Sakura, wasn't it? How does she fit into this paradigm?"

"About as perfect a support operative as anyone could hope to have," Minato said. "She's not built for combat like the other two, but her mind's as sharp as any specialized strategist. Chakra control seems to be a specialty as well, which explains her interest and budding expertise as a field medic."

"Their primary instructor?"

"Kimura, yes. He seems to prefer a _lassez faire _approach, but from what Sensei has told me, he emphasizes teamwork, loyalty, and cohesion. Without this, I've reason to think the three of them would have fallen apart long before now. Their surface personalities clash alarmingly."

"Hmmm…I think I should like to meet them. Where are they now?"

"I've placed Kimura in charge of daily training while I prepare for the team's next mission." Minato turned slightly and gestured toward the door. "I'll show you to them."

* * *

The first thing Sarutobi noticed as he stepped into the yard where the six young soldiers were training was that Minato's fiancée, Kushina, was standing off to the side, watching. She looked rapt, as if she'd never seen the displays unfolding in front of her before, even though Sarutobi knew for a fact that Kushina had borne witness to any number of training sessions, official drills, placement examinations, and festival competitions. The abilities of Konoha's ninja were most certainly _not _new to her.

Yet she stared like a girl of twelve as they worked. Obito was sparring with a blond boy who could only be Naruto. It was here that Kushina's attention was riveted, and Sarutobi had to admit that the display was…engaging. Naruto's techniques were a mystifying mix of sloppy technique and impeccable aim. He managed to make the most devastating mistakes look intentional. As Sarutobi watched, he sent out a punch so transparent that Obito—no stranger to transparency—actually looked insulted as he parried. Naruto let his opponent counter, falling flat on his back, where he proceeded to slam a leg into one of Obito's ankles. He twisted, sending the young chuunin sprawling as he bounced back upright with the ease of a circus performer and nimbly danced out of Obito's reach.

Minato chuckled.

Sarutobi glanced over at a black-haired, black-eyed youth who could only be Uchiha Sasuke, the outsider who had so insulted the head of his supposed clan. He was simply seated with his legs folded beneath him, staring intently at Rin, who was staring right back. She looked relaxed and almost amused; he looked stern and almost angry.

Sakura was perusing a scroll with Kakashi. The grey-haired son of the White Fang actually looked engaged for once, which was a rarity to such an extreme that both Sarutobi and Minato stared openly at each other. He was speaking animatedly—as animatedly as he could, anyway—and Sakura seemed not only to follow whatever he was discussing, but was doing so with ease. She pointed, said something, and Kakashi blinked, surprised but most certainly _not _displeased.

"Hmmm…" Sarutobi murmured, rubbing his chin.

Hatake Kimura approached them. "I decided a change to the status quo would be helpful," he said to Minato. "It's been a long time since Naruto has been in a fight that _didn't _involve mortal danger. He's had no time to honestly refine his…unorthodox techniques. Sasuke lacks patience. And Sakura…well." He glanced over his shoulder. "She lacks confidence. I thought she would benefit from _teaching, _rather than learning, for once."

Minato smirked. "I see. Dare I ask what she's managing to teach _Kakashi, _of all people?"

Kimura simply returned the smirk, and didn't reply. He saw Sarutobi, and bowed his head. "To what do we owe the pleasure, Hokage-sama?"

"No pleasure, no business. Simple curiosity. When did you begin teaching them?"

Kimura glanced at the six young ninja. "Roughly two years ago. Their promotion to genin was something of a…home-schooling situation, if you understand my meaning. Jiraiya gave them their headbands after I had put them through a formal regimen. To train them in the ways of their home village, I have been sending them to smaller settlements as mercenaries." He turned to Sarutobi with no real expression on his face, though Sarutobi spied out of the corner of his eye that Minato looked surprised. "After far too long, we've finally managed to find our way home."

"I must wonder how it is that they managed to travel so far from this village without anyone's notice," Sarutobi said.

"For that, you would be better served to speak to Jiraiya. They were in his care when he called me in to train them."

"Hmmm…" Sarutobi frowned thoughtfully. "Well, that certainly _is _unorthodox. As a matter of protocol, you understand that before they begin to act as true representatives of this village, they must complete our academy's entrance examination. Simple principle, you understand."

Kimura nodded. "Of course, sir."

"I should like to see a demonstration of _your _capabilities, as well. Again, a matter of principle. If I am to have four new shinobi in my corps, I must know what they are able to do. If you have been training these young recruits, then I am certain you are of jounin level."

"Yes, sir."

"We shall have to find time to conduct these examinations. That is…if you aim to work for this village as official soldiers."

"Of course. By your leave, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi nodded. "Excellent." He gestured to Minato. "Gather your students, please. I should like to speak to them."

Minato nodded firmly, and let out a loud, piercing whistle. _"Fall in!"_ he called. Obito, Rin, and Kakashi immediately stopped what they were doing and rushed up to their teacher, standing in a perfect line, heels together and their arms flat at their sides.

"_Sir!"_ they called in unison.

Kimura gestured, and the three genin approached more slowly. They stood beside their older compatriots, looking directly at Sarutobi. He noted distinct familiarity from both Naruto and Sakura, though Sasuke showed nothing of his thoughts…as Sarutobi would have expected from any Uchiha.

"Good afternoon," Sarutobi offered.

"_Good afternoon, Hokage-sama!" _the three chuunin said, still in one voice.

Sakura bowed. "A pleasure to finally meet you, Hokage-sama," she said.

Sasuke inclined his head.

Naruto gave a jaunty little salute. "Nice t' meetcha."

Minato grinned, but hurriedly hid it behind his hand. Kushina approached, with a similarly pleasant expression on her face. She bowed, as Sakura had done. "Hello, sir," she said. "I trust you are well?"

"Quite well, my dear," Sarutobi said. "It has come to my attention that we have some new recruits in our midst. I simply wished to introduce myself, and welcome them personally to their home." He turned to the three genin. "As I am sure my student has _not _informed you, I am Sarutobi Hiruzen. I lead this village, and it is my responsibility to coordinate the efforts of our shinobi to ensure the safety and prosperity of the Hidden Leaf."

"That old pervert was _your _student, huh?" Naruto asked, completely at ease. "I'm sorry."

Sarutobi had been Hokage for a number of years. He was so accustomed to deference and _reverence _from the people he served—except from the Uchiha and the Hyuuga, of course, but that was no surprise to anyone—that he was fast growing tired of it. And so Naruto's entirely casual attitude was such a shock that it took a long moment for Sarutobi to understand how to react.

Rin looked absolutely mortified. Obito looked shocked and impressed. Kakashi looked incredulous. Interestingly, though, Sasuke and Sakura seemed not to notice this at all. Sakura was smiling. Sasuke still looked like a typical Uchiha.

Sarutobi finally laughed, and the tension left the situation in a hurry. "I see you know him well, Naruto. Good. Very good." Naruto gave a lopsided grin. "Now, then. I understand that you have been trained in a manner differing from standard protocol here in the village. So you won't have found out how it usually occurs. We have an official school, where our promising young students learn the basics. After showing sufficient skill in the main tenets of shinobi combat and tactics, students are promoted to genin. Once they've been broken up into squads of three, as you are, they are put under the tutelage of a higher-ranked soldier. However, since you haven't received your training from our academy, you've not completed our preliminary exam. Without official promotion and instatement, I cannot allow you to act as ninja for this village."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Jiraiya told us everything was cool." He tapped his headband. "He said this was all the proof we needed."

"This is simply a matter of protocol, I assure you. Just from what I have seen today, I am sure you will pass the examination with little difficulty. However, I must insist that you take it, if you wish to conduct missions on behalf of the Hidden Leaf."

The three genin glanced at each other, then back to their commander.

"A'right, I guess," Naruto said. "I'll bite."

Sasuke gave the barest of nods in agreement.

"What do you need us to do, Hokage-sama?" Sakura asked.

"We'll get to that. Minato, Kimura, if I might speak to you in private for but a moment."

Both jounin nodded, and followed their leader as he walked a fair distance away from the training yard. Turning to them, he said, "Heaven knows we need all the capable recruits we can find at this point. There would normally be a far more involved process in officially instating these three. I'm sure to catch some grief for streamlining it like I have. However, we haven't time to be picky. Here is what I suggest we do. Kimura, I would like you to take Minato's place and head his squad for their next mission. I will send another jounin with you, who will observe your capabilities as a field operative and squad leader, and determine whether or not we can use you. That will be your examination."

Kimura nodded, and Sarutobi turned to the Yellow Flash. "Minato, I would like _you _to conduct the preliminary examination for our young recruits. As I've no doubt they will pass, your next assignment will be to lead them in their first mission for the Hidden Leaf. Determine their strengths and weaknesses, and how Kimura might be best served to further their training from here."

"Understood," both men said as one.

"Very good," Sarutobi said, nodding with satisfaction. "I will leave you to continue training for now. Give your teams their new assignments. I'm off to find a certain…old pervert." Minato chuckled. "I'm going to be needing some answers if I am to do my job properly. I'm beginning to catch heat already. Dismissed."

The two jounin vanished, as if they'd never been.

Sarutobi chuckled as he turned back toward the village proper, thinking that young people were all the same: they never tired of showing off. He walked deliberately slowly as he worked out the various logistical issues Jiraiya had lumped onto his lap without consent, and how he might use it to his advantage.

That was the way of shinobi, after all.

* * *

Oddly enough, he didn't find his old student prowling bath houses or beauty salons. Instead, Sarutobi found Jiraiya sitting just outside the borders of the Uchiha's compound, studying a great number of scrolls spread out on a large rock.

"Your mission in life seems to be defying any and all expectations."

The hermit glanced up at his teacher, looking older and more haggard than he ever had. "Uchiha Fugaku seemed rather intent on finding me," he said slowly. His voice was deep, scratchy, and Sarutobi wondered if Jiraiya had bothered to sleep in the past few days. "Took all I've ever learned to keep away from his eyes. If he doesn't find me soon, it wouldn't surprise me if he enlists the help of the Hyuuga. You sent him for me, didn't you?"

"I merely suggested that he speak directly to you for answers regarding the newest member of his family," Sarutobi said. "As currently, I know next to nothing."

"Hm." Jiraiya looked back to his scrolls. "Did you know, old man, that the first shinobi had no formal training?" He gestured to what he was reading. "Listen to this: 'In times when the Demons Most Foul and Malevolent made their walking tracks upon the earth, did Noble Men, armed naught but with Forks and Knives and Scythes send their wrath and deadly trickery upon them. For they learned, in their cleverness, to bedevil the Demons and capture them.'"

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "I never knew you to be a historian, Jiraiya."

"I'm simply awash with surprises these days," the hermit replied. "'Lo, and did the Shadows in their Wisdom bequeath the Demons upon their own.' They make it sound so glorious."

"Studying the Bijuu, are you?" Sarutobi continued. His face suddenly turned serious. "What have you found? What do you know?"

"Nothing…yet." Jiraiya finally set the scroll aside and stood up. "That's the problem. I never seem to know anything until it doesn't matter anymore."

Sarutobi scowled. "I think it's time you tell me what's been on your mind, Jiraiya. Do recall that you still remain a resident and citizen of this village. If I must declare the information you've decided to keep locked in your head a matter of official security…do not think for a moment that I won't."

Jiraiya watched his commander with an odd look on his face. "Does the phrase 'Thousand Riveting Snares' mean anything to you?"

"Vaguely."

"Supposedly, it's a _genjutsu _technique meant to trap the victim within his or her own memories. It sounds simple enough, could even be said that that's the whole point of the discipline in the first place. But this technique is different. It starts simple. Puts the victim in a place they know."

Jiraiya began to walk, to pace about the rock where he'd been sitting. "Say the victim was me. Say I'm dealing with someone off in a cave somewhere. The technique might put me here, back home. That's the first snare. And say I'm walking around, trying to figure out how I got here. I see a restaurant I like. Second snare. In that restaurant, I meet someone I remember. Third snare. They start talking to me about some event that happened in the past. Fourth snare. Do you see? These snares trigger based on the victim's memories. With each snare, I would be more and more convinced that I'm really home. That I'm really here and that no technique could possibly do this because my enemy can't know this much."

Sarutobi thought he _had _heard of something like this before. He frowned. "And what if you were roped into this trap? Riveted, so to speak, by these snares?"

"It's said that if the victim can't work his way out by the Thousandth Snare, he's locked in the trap forever. His body will simply drop where the technique was first triggered and it'll just…rot. And his mind will never know the difference."

"Truly a devastating power," Sarutobi murmured. "It would have been forbidden."

"Yes, it would," Jiraiya said, nodding. "And that's the problem. That's…the whole crux of the problem."

"What problem would that be, Jiraiya?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was a seasoned veteran. He knew how to read people. More to the point, he knew how to predict people. He'd never been able to predict Jiraiya, however, and so when a look of sheer, almost manic terror crossed the frog hermit's face, the Third Hokage felt a shiver of superstition.

He never could have predicted what came next.

"I think I've managed to perform this technique."

"…On whom?"

"On _me."_


	24. Lingering Questions

_**It's a new year, and that means a new philosophy. Or something like that. To those of you worrying that the genjutsu I talked about in the previous cliffhanger now invalidates everything that's happened…just give it a little. I'm not going to pull a Shyamalan on you all.**_

_** I've been trying for a long time to figure out exactly where this story is headed, and how best to handle it. The short answer is basically this: the answer is still vague. But I'm pushing forward, planting seeds and such. A lot of plans I had for this one are now changing, in order to suit this story as a cohesive chain of events, rather than a hodgepodge of soap operas.**_

_** All this is to say, I'm still kicking on this one. Thank you for the patience you've given me throughout this story's evolution. It means the world to me, and I hope to be able to live up to it.**_

_** Let's see what happens next, shall we?**_

* * *

Namikaze Minato cut a striking figure as he stood like a classical statue in front of the three young ninja, looking every bit like the mythic hero he would be in their lifetimes. His handsome face was pulled into a distinguished but menacing scowl, his blue eyes like windows into the sky.

"Listen up, rookies," the Yellow Flash declared, crossing his arms over his chest. "It would seem that the Hokage, in his wisdom, has decided to use you while you're here. But in order to do that, he has to know what you're capable of doing. He has placed _me _in charge of determining that capability. So for today, you may call me 'Sensei.'"

He said it like it was some kind of honor he was bestowing upon them; it was perhaps ironic, or maybe just cosmically amusing, that—to them—it very well _was. _Even Sasuke looked slightly intrigued by the arrangement; Naruto was grinning fit to split, and Sakura was starry-eyed.

Kushina, standing off to the side, rolled her eyes and chuckled. He was showing off, and she knew it. She thought they _all _knew it, but just didn't seem all that inclined to care. Indeed, Naruto saluted in earnest and cried out, "Aye-aye, Namikaze-sensei, _sir!"_ as though he _hadn't _just revealed to the both of them that he was the sole heir to their collective legacy, such as it was.

Sakura nodded. "Understood, Sensei."

"What are our orders?" Sasuke asked.

Minato's severe disposition shifted by way of a downright devious grin. "We'll start simple. After all, the only way to _really _understand what you can do is to…take it easy. Take our time. So, here's how we're going to start. I leave it to you. You three get to decide the best way to impress upon me how valuable you are to this village. I've seen your capabilities, to one degree or another, based upon your teacher's training. Now let's see where _you _think your best strengths lie." He uncrossed his arms and gestured dismissively. "So go for it. Impress me."

The three genin looked at each other. "Whatcha think?" Naruto asked his teammates.

"Go ahead and collaborate for a bit," Minato said, turning to wink at Kushina. "I have a bit of…personal business. We'll reconvene in about twenty minutes. Dismissed."

Minato strolled lazily over to his fiancée, and met her searching, smirking expression with an affably innocent smile. "What brings you here, stranger?" he asked. "Surely you had something better to do today than watch a bunch of blockheads strut around preening at each other."

"I wouldn't miss this if you paid me," Kushina said. She quirked an eyebrow at the huddled ninja. "Why didn't you just come out and _tell _them to dance for you? We all know you're just looking for an excuse to amuse yourself. You and your bad influences."

"I can't fight who I am," Minato said. He kissed Kushina's cheek. "Besides, you love it. Don't try to deny the truth."

"I think I'm getting used to this idea," Kushina said, abruptly changing the subject. Minato's smirk dropped in favor a more neutral expression. "I mean, we knew we'd have a baby _someday, _right? But I can't help but hate the idea that we won't get to watch him grow up. I guess this is kind of a compromise, isn't it?"

Minato looked over at the boy with the whisker marks on his face, waving his arms animatedly as he demonstrated…something. For a wonder, both his teammates were paying rapt attention. "Maybe it is," he murmured. "I've been thinking: Sensei didn't tell us the whole truth back then, when he showed us that seal."

"I wondered when you would bring that up."

"The way Naruto talks, he didn't have much supervision growing up. He got an allowance each month from the village, and used it to pay his bills, buy his food, his clothes…he was expected to fend for himself, to train himself, to teach himself. I think it's because Sensei wasn't there."

Kushina was nodding. "I think you're right. Remember how excited he got, at the prospect of a meal that didn't come from a restaurant or a Styrofoam package? Jiraiya-sama may not be the best cook in the world, but he wouldn't have let Naruto live like that. Except…he wasn't there."

"I think he left it to the Third," Minato guessed. "And I think the Third, in turn, decided that Naruto would be best off taking care of himself. It's good training, to fend for yourself. It taught him to be self-sufficient, which is important considering…considering nobody else would have done it. Not willingly, anyway." The young jounin grimaced. "Damn it. Damn it all. I should have _known _not to bank on people understanding past superstition. What civilian knows what a _jinchuuriki _is? What they go through? What they represent?"

"You might do better not to berate yourself too hard for something you haven't done yet," Kushina murmured thoughtfully. "I'm surprised at him. What did he think we were going to do? Hate him forever? Chop off that ridiculous ponytail and choke him with it?"

"He hates himself for leaving," Minato said. "So he thinks we should, too. When you feel guilty, nothing hurts worse than forgiveness. He's been like that ever since I met him. Don't know what it is he's done in his past to make him think that's healthy, but…it's how he thinks."

"So…we keep quiet about it?"

"Don't see as we have any choice. We go lambasting Sensei, we'll have to go around smacking every villager living in our borders upside the face with sharp things for being judgmental _idiots. _Not very Hokage-like behavior. Don't want to hurt my chances."

Kushina chuckled.

She looked ready to cry.

* * *

"…I'm going to pretend that I follow your logic, Jiraiya, and ask the obvious question: how did you come by this assumption?"

The frog hermit glared down at the scrolls in his lap. "You know damn well I'm too freaking old to be the right Jiraiya. I'm in my mid-fifties, man. _Look _at me!" He lifted his ponytail and shook it. "Time-travel jutsu, my ass. Things never go that simply."

"I'm not sure there's much point in arguing against you," Sarutobi said, crossing his arms, "as you're likely to consider me little more than a mental projection. Let us assume that these snares…explain the situation. What will you do?"

"If I knew _that, _I wouldn't be sitting here staring at _this." _

Jiraiya tossed the scroll aside with disgust. He looked up, sighed, and told the story. Where he was from, _when _he was from, what he'd done. Who Naruto was, who Sasuke was, who Sakura was. Who Kimura was. He told his old teacher _everything, _including the secrets he was hiding so desperately from Minato and Kushina. Sarutobi simply listened, cataloguing each point in his mind and watching as the puzzle filled itself.

When Jiraiya was done, the Third Hokage simply said: "Have you told them he is their son?"

"Yeah. They know _that _part. I had to. That kid's been miserable since day one, being the only kid in the damn village without—well, anyway. Never mind. I had to tell them. They had to know. _He _had to know."

"What of Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Tch. _That's _ten times more complicated, not the least of reasons being he doesn't trust me. That one trusts nobody, except _maybe _his team."

"Do you intend to tell the Uchiha the truth? Does _he?"_

"I don't know. Does that present a problem?"

"It might. I would have honestly preferred that Minato and Kushina not know anything, either. But…that part's done. And I suppose you're right. Walk with me, Jiraiya. I have an assignment for you."

"A what? _Now?"_

"Yes. I appreciate your telling me the truth, but right now…there's little to be done about it. In the meantime, I intend for Kakashi the elder to be properly assessed. I'm sending him in Minato's place on a reconnaissance mission to the Hidden Rock. I wish for you to supervise them, and tell me how he performs. I also wish to know how theywork together_."_

Jiraiya stopped dead. Sarutobi glanced over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow.

"What's the date today, old man?" Jiraiya asked.

Sarutobi told him.

The hermit licked his lips, looking suddenly nervous. His eyes darted hither and thither in his head, stopping nowhere, trying to take in every micrometer of his surroundings as though expecting something—or someone—to leap out at him.

He said, "…I know what to do."

* * *

When Minato approached the three young ninja after twenty minutes had gone by, he said, "So? What will it be?"

Sakura looked sheepish. "We…we're not sure, Sensei. We've never been asked to do this before. Kakashi-sensei tested us, when we first started out, by having us try to steal a pair of bells from him. We…kind of failed. We could try that again. What do you think?"

"No way we'll screw up _this _time!" Naruto declared. "We're _so _much better now, it won't even be funny!"

Sasuke glanced neutrally at their instructor. "What do you say?"

Minato grinned. "You think you can steal something. From _me. _Is that what I'm hearing?"

"Why not?" Naruto asked. "I stole your _face. _Let's do it!"

"Hm. All right, then. I'm in a nostalgic mood. Let's try it." Minato reached into a pouch and took out a pair of oddly-shaped, three-bladed kunai. A particular seal marked the handles of each. He tied them to his belt. "You three will have one hour to relieve me of these, in any way you see fit to try. The village of Konoha will be our training ground. Ready?"

"Hell, yeah!" Naruto cried.

Sakura nodded, and Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Begin!" Minato shouted, and disappeared.

* * *

Without question, the three genin set about finding their prey. They understood what was happening; they _were _better ninja than they had been, and that meant a simple recreation of their old test would have been useless. Stealing bells was simple; finding a jounin who didn't want to be found was most assuredly not. With this in mind, Hatake Kakashi's students knew that they were in for a difficult test, indeed, but they did not falter.

Minato would be watching them, scrutinizing them, and paying close attention to everything they did. It would do no good to go into that with low spirits. Naruto sent a multitude of clones across an equal number of crossroads and intersections, each seeking out any indication of his father; Sasuke took to the skies, leaping from roof to roof and scoping out the villagers with eyes like a hawk's.

Sakura, for her part, took a more contemplative route. She approached the man's fiancée. "Kushina-san," she said, bowing her head. "I think it's probably safe to assume he's going to be hidden. Do you have any idea where he might choose to wait?"

Kushina raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think I'll tell you?"

"I think I would kick myself if I didn't try," Sakura said, grinning. "Missing the simple answer because you're convinced it must be complicated is the first way to fail."

"Fair point," Kushina said. "You might try the Hokage monument, the cemetery, or the academy. I don't need to tell you that he probably won't look like himself. Good luck."

Sakura bowed her head again, her grin widening even further as she set off on her own. Kushina watched the young kunoichi leave, wondering how this test would turn out. If there was one thing she had learned living in a village defended by ninja, it was that expectations meant very little. She began to walk in the general direction of her home, thinking about the conversation she'd had with Minato.

It had to be that Jiraiya felt guilty for leaving Naruto to fend for himself. There was nothing else she could conceive that would have had him acting the way he had. And a part of Kushina _was, _indeed, angry with the man. But just the same, another part pitied him. Jiraiya had never been the sort of person to take loss well. The first time he'd lost a comrade in combat, one of Minato's own teammates, the man had drunk himself stupid for a week. When he'd finally come back to the surface of himself, Jiraiya had vanished from the village for another month.

Tsunade, the woman Jiraiya loved, had vanished off the face of the earth. His students, save Minato, were gone. Who knew what Orochimaru was doing with his time? Kushina tried to think about what it would be like to watch her future husband die, and envisioned nothing but a numb ache where her heart should have been.

Jiraiya was no stranger to tragedy. His prized student's death had probably been the final straw.

From that perspective, it was hard to blame the man for leaving.

But then Kushina thought of Naruto's face, and the absolute euphoria that had transformed it as he'd sat down to a meal with his parents for the first time in his life, and she was conflicted again.

* * *

As it turned out, Namikaze Minato was posing as one of Konoha's military police officers, and it was Naruto who found him. He hadn't been trying all that hard to stay hidden; that wasn't the point of the exercise, after all, only the preamble. And so he dropped the ruse almost immediately, and set to evading.

Of course, this was a cruel joke in itself, as there was no way for a genin, no matter how gifted, to keep up with him. Minato prided himself on his speed and dexterity, if absolutely nothing else. When Naruto sent his clones flying one after another into the air, hoping to catch the Yellow Flash from every conceivable angle, Minato ducked and spun and twisted in the air, and not a single strike found any sort of purchase.

Minato landed and slid backward on the balls of his feet, grinning. He was only slightly off-put by the fact that Naruto was grinning back. The blond let out a piercing whistle, and before Minato could properly assess anything, Uchiha Sasuke came barreling down to the ground. Minato pitched himself aside and flipped upright, his eyes widening. "Well, well!" he said. "Not bad, rookies!"

Sasuke smirked. "Who are you talking to?" he asked.

And they were gone. Minato blinked, and set to searching.

"You're going easy on us, Sensei!" Naruto cried out, right in front of him, and Minato suddenly felt limbs striking at him. An illusion? The smirk returned, and the future Hokage was staring at his son again.

"You'll have to try a bit better than that, kiddo."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, stepping up from behind…a three-bladed kunai hooked around one finger. Minato's eyes snapped wide, and his hand snatched at his belt.

Both knives were still there.

"_Katon! Goukakyuu no jutsu!"_

A massive jet of flame caught Minato full in the chest, and it took him a long moment to realize that he felt no heat, just pressure. As he regained his equilibrium, he realized that hidden in the fire was…

Sakura?

The pink-haired kunoichi, still in mid-air, held up her hands in a symbol that looked like a cross. _"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" _she declared.

"What the f—"

Absolutely mystified, Minato's mind reeled as he tried to reconcile what was going on. Before he knew it, he was being held down by five separate Sakuras, all grinning toothily at him. Naruto and Sasuke came sauntering up, looking thoroughly superior, and reached down to take the knives from their instructor's belt.

And then their instructor disappeared.

"You think you're clever, don't you?" said the real Minato, as he came strolling out from behind a tree. "You're not the only one who can use _kage bunshin, _you know. But…a valiant effort nonetheless."

Naruto was still grinning.

The smirk dropped from Minato's face as his son's eyes turned red. His hands blurred together in a series of seals that the Yellow Flash couldn't follow; the blond thrust his hand down, opening his fingers so that it looked like a claw, and chakra began to snap and crackle against his palm until it became a piercing, keening wail.

Naruto blazed forward, heading straight for Minato.

As he watched the human missile careening toward him, the Yellow Flash began to grin again.

"Aha."

The torrent of chakra connected with a thundering _crash._

* * *

Minato threw the two kunai from his belt into the dirt, and began to clap.

The three genin whirled behind them to look at him. Confusion that almost looked betrayed crossed their faces as they stared at each other, trying to figure out when he could have possibly had time to show up _behind _them.

Naruto glared at the man. "You dodged it," he said.

"Did I?" Minato asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, that's probably for the best." He swept his eyes across the three of them. "This mission is over. Well done, rookies." In a cloud of smoke, the three genin canceled their transformations. Where Naruto had been standing, there was Sasuke, still looking irritated. Sakura and Naruto had switched positions. Minato grinned. "I'm sure that if Kakashi had been conducting this test, he would have seen through it. Subtle differences and all. But I don't know you very well. The mark of a true ninja is using every contingency to his, or her, advantage. I approve heartily."

The real Naruto walked up and picked one of the kunai out of the ground. "These are weird," he muttered. He tossed it over his shoulder to Sakura, kicked at the other one and launched it at Sasuke. Both caught the projectiles easily. "You ever seen those?"

"They're…special," Minato said. "I'll have to show you how they work. For now, though…I'm hungry."

Naruto's eyes went wide. "Victory lunch!" he cried.

The sullen, conflicted boy Minato had met a while back was nowhere to be seen. In his place was joy and exuberance personified, and it was hard to imagine that a creature like the Nine-Tailed Fox could be imprisoned in such an effervescent boy.

Minato smiled wistfully. "That sounds fine." He gestured. "Lead the way, son."

* * *

_**It often takes longer to write a chapter for this story than I ever anticipate. I suppose I should reevaluate my expectations, but it's difficult to do. This project's been a long time in the making, and I've learned a great number of things in creating it. Not the least of which being, I had no clue what I was doing when I started.**_

_** I've been tempted to go back and revisit everything, touch it up and fix it and make it more in line with what I expect out of myself these days. But I'm hesitant because…well, it's part of the process. I like that the story's been evolving alongside my writing style.**_

_** Hopefully that evolution makes things better.**_

_** See you next time.**_


	25. Bloodline Limits

_**For those of you who will read this multiple times, I apologize. Feel free to ignore this if you've already seen it, and move on to the chapter.**_

_**Here in my neck of the woods, it is now the 9**__**th**__** day of February, in the year 2012. Ten years ago today, I came across Fanfiction-dot-Net. I proceeded to publish "Lonely, Broken Hero," the first story I wrote that ever felt complete. It was inspired by a song, written for the Square-Enix game "Chrono Trigger," and marked the beginning of a lifelong passion.**_

_**Since February 9**__**th**__**, 2002, I have had the honor of meeting some of the greatest people on earth. These people have given me 5,885 reviews, thousands of Favorites, and over 1.8 million hits across 40 projects. These people have supported me, cheered for me, informed me, criticized me, and helped me embark on some of the most memorable journeys of my life. I never would have made it without them.**_

_**To celebrate this illustrious anniversary, and to thank you for being the best audience an author could ever ask for, I have written extra chapters for each of my 8 ongoing projects. I present them to you now, and humble myself before you. Were it not for you, these stories never would have come into being, or lasted nearly as long as they have.**_

_**Thank you again. You all have changed my life.**_

_**Here's to another decade of adventure and exploration.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

* * *

"It ever cross your mind that this whole _mysterioso fantastico _thing you've got going doesn't really work? That you just come off as a frickin' weirdo?"

Nobody knew if Obito was leveling this question on Kakashi or Kimura, and it crossed their minds that it really didn't matter. Obito himself probably didn't know. It was difficult to wrap one's mind around the idea that whether they talked to the thirteen-year-old chuunin or the mid-twenties jounin, they were talking to the same person. The only reason Rin could even believe it was because Kakashi and Minato believed it; without their endorsement, the entire idea would have been far too ludicrous for her to swallow.

It was true that ninja had abilities that normal people didn't, and indeed it probably would seem just as impossible for a layperson to believe in the ability to disappear from one place and reappear in another in half a blink; yet her own teacher had perfected just such an ability. Laypeople thought it was impossible to change their appearance so as to fool the most astute observer; yet every ninja past the age of seven could do it at least passably well, and the best of them could do it without batting an eyelash.

Still, there were certain things that were logistically impossible, even for ninja. Up until a while ago, Rin would have placed time travel on the top of that list. The paradox, if nothing else, would…would…

She had to constantly remind herself that Kakashi believed it, and so did her commanding officer. And even then, she had to look at Kimura to reaffirm her wavering conviction. He really _was _a dead ringer for her teammate. A part of her still insisted that he was just an older relative, but most of her said that time travel made more sense, as stupid as that sounded.

Whenever she thought about the fact that she was going out on a mission with two Kakashis, and that one of them was her direct superior, it made Rin's head spin.

Jiraiya was with them, too, but he was less an asset and more an impartial observer. He didn't speak, not even to Kimura. He looked almost feverish as he sped along, like he was waiting on baited breath for something very, _very_ particular to happen. Even Kimura—who normally didn't even notice the old hermit's more eccentric habits—seemed concerned. Of course, concern for the elder Hatake amounted to a quirked eyebrow and a pensive glance, but it was enough.

Theirs was a simple mission; find information. Spying was perhaps the most fundamental skill that a ninja possessed. Laypeople (oh, those laypeople) thought it was the art of death, but that was because they often only paid attention to the weapons. Nobody seemed to realize that the kunai and shuriken and swords and scythes were backup; contingency plans. The cleanest, elite missions were carried out with combat. Weaponry only existed in the event that Plan A failed: stealth. And what was the point of stealth but to gather information? What was the point of being able to transform yourself into someone else but to blend into a crowd? What was the point of being able to disappear but to escape notice?

They all knew that their most elementary, core skillsets were being put to a serious test, being sent out to Hidden Rock territory. Even Obito, jeers and jibes aside, felt the tension in the air. If they came back home with victory, a war might well be ended before blood ever met the ground. If they came home with failure, they might be responsible for the total destruction of everything their village stood for.

Neither Kimura nor Jiraiya had bothered telling the younger ninja any of this; they knew it already. That was what being a chuunin taught you: that your actions meant more than the success or failure of the exercise. It could very easily mean the success or failure of the entire village.

"That silent act isn't helping your case," Obito muttered.

"I wasn't aware that it needed help," Kakashi replied caustically, not looking at the Uchiha. "Contrary to what you might believe, Obito, I do not cultivate my personality with the expressed purpose of annoying you."

Obito blinked. "Holy crap, you just spoke in a complete sentence. _Two _of 'em!"

Rin cracked a smile. She knew what was going on right now, even if most people didn't. "They don't work well together _at all!" _people said. Indeed, it was often bandied about that the academy instructors had made a grievous mistake in placing Obito and Kakashi in the same team; their belief systems were just too incompatible to work. They would never grow to the point that they could benefit from the other's viewpoint. Kakashi was just too rigid—and why shouldn't he be?—while Obito was too loose. Oil and water. It often worked well to have opposing personalities together under the same leadership, but here was an exception, they said.

Rin knew better. And all she had to do was look at Kimura, at the way he carried himself, to know that it _did _work. It _had _worked. Kakashi seemed aware of this as well, though Obito remained oblivious. That was just his way.

"Yo! Leader!" Obito called to Kimura. "What'sa plan? How we handling this one?"

Kimura remained silent for a long moment, as was his way. Eventually, Obito seemed resigned to the fact that he wasn't going to answer. Then Kimura finally said, in a voice that was tight with repressed emotion that made all three chuunin shiver:

"Take everything that comes to mind, everything your instincts tell you to do…and ignore it."

* * *

Was it a smart idea? No.

Would it work? Maybe.

_Should_ he do it? Jiraiya didn't know. He didn't dare to contemplate it. Ever since he'd read the old scrolls—the closest thing to scripture that the Hidden Leaf could be said to possess—he wasn't sure of anything. He didn't trust himself. Not his senses, not his instincts, not his own thoughts. Maybe the old man was right, maybe it was impossible. Maybe he was just grasping at straws, hoping to find the one with poison in it because he was a damned masochist.

Maybe, maybe, maybe. Jiraiya had never been much for maybes.

Nonetheless, his absolute conviction when he'd left Sarutobi had since petered out, leaving him feeling like a half-cocked idiot. What the hell did he think he was doing, playing savior to a world that might not even _exist? _If he was right, then who knew the implications that might arise from his meddling, even if he _did _succeed? And if he was wrong, then he was doing this all for nothing. Either way, it felt like a fool's errand.

But then, he was no stranger to those.

More than any other ninja before him, Jiraiya had been the prototype for Uzumaki Naruto's…unique method of soldiery. He'd passed it on to Minato, and like an heirloom Minato had passed it on to Obito; Obito to Kakashi; Kakashi to Naruto. It was a strain of thought that flew in the face of every solitary thing they taught at academy, a worldview that seemed entirely at odds with any warrior society in history: if it conflicts with your instincts, training be damned. Oh, sure, most ninja _thought _they knew how to trust their gut. They _thought _they relied on instinct.

Jiraiya knew better. Trusting your gut didn't mean letting your mind relinquish control in the middle of combat. That was battle-fever. Trusting your gut didn't mean taking wild risks in search of glory. That was arrogance. Trusting your gut meant gambling everything you ever loved on a fucking suicide mission for no reason that could ever be articulated.

Trusting your gut meant spitting on common sense because damn it, you feel like it.

Was it to save Uchiha Obito's life? Not really. Was it to save Namikaze Minato's life? Probably not. Uzumaki Kushina? Fat chance.

Was it to stop Uzumaki Naruto from becoming an orphan and a jinchuuriki?

No.

Jiraiya's reason for damaging the flow of time beyond recognition was just to see if he damn well could.

"Hey, Ero-sennin."

It was Obito, come up beside him. He seemed to have taken a liking to a number of Naruto's habits, including some of the more irritating ones. The hermit had given up trying to stop him. "Got a question for ya. Sasuke won't talk about it. Gave me a dirty look when I asked. So I figured you might know, bein' as how you're from there, too. What, uh…what's the family look like back in your time? Like, y'know, how many cousins I _got _now?"

The question was so innocuous, almost comedic in its nonchalance, that Jiraiya stopped dead in his tracks; he felt the color and the heat drain from his entire body.

It took a moment for Obito to notice that the man wasn't keeping pace with him anymore; the others were a good twenty feet ahead of him before any of them turned back to see what he was doing.

They came back, Obito in the lead.

"What're you lookin' like I just told you your mother died f—" the excitable Uchiha began, then his mouth snapped closed and he went pale in the face himself. He glared suspiciously. "…What happened, old man?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous. The black eyes behind the ridiculous goggles were crackling. Jiraiya didn't speak. "I asked you something," Obito pressed, clearly not in the mood for the usual games—Jiraiya's or his own. "I _expect _an answer."

"Obito!" Rin admonished. Even Kakashi looked surprised. "Don't talk to Jiraiya-sama like—"

"Nah, _bullshit!" _Obito snarled. "This is my family! What the _hell _aren't you people telling me?"

Jiraiya looked almost pleadingly at Kimura. Now he thought he understood why his old teacher had expressed concern about telling them _any _of it. Tempting as it was to play fortune-teller, it wasn't enough to just tell them that they'd made jounin, or that they'd activated their sharingan, or that they had children. With the good came the bad, and with the bad came the outright unforgivable.

The frog hermit had broached the subject of the Uchiha Massacre—the bloodiest atrocity in his memory—with Sarutobi and every elder he could corner, but he'd always been stonewalled. In another example of trusting his gut, that had told Jiraiya that there was more going on behind the scenes than a mass murderer with a flair for the sadistic. Indeed, he'd had his doubts from the first; he was a good judge of character. A damn good one. He'd had a bead on Uchiha Itachi since the day he learned to talk, and absolutely _nothing _had said, "Blood-Hungry Monster."

Oh, he had no doubt that Itachi had _done _it. Nobody but he would have had the skill, the finesse, and the fucking _balls _to have taken on the entire Uchiha Clan. The thing that didn't make sense to Jiraiya, the thing that had never made sense to anyone, was motive. Itachi had always been fiercely loyal to his parents, his aunts and uncles, and _especially _his brother. Jiraiya couldn't think of a single thing that would have made the man's perspective change so fundamentally that he would turn his wickedly sharp blade on the very people he had always sworn to protect with his life.

People assumed that he'd been faking it. But Jiraiya knew fake; Jiraiya made a living with fake. Itachi had been a lot of things, but dishonest had _never _been one of them. This was a boy who, when he'd made chuunin, expected to be punished after a mission _succeeded _because he hadn't done it well enough. Those kind of exacting standards might have made a strict taskmaster, but it didn't make a murderer.

Not out of someone like Uchiha Itachi.

The top brass knew more than they let on.

Jiraiya couldn't just blame it on the child that Obito babysat on weekends. One, it never did any good to point a finger at a kingdom's crown prince and cry for him to hang. The Uchiha were well-respected, even revered figures in this time. Never mind the fact that Obito—for all his faults—was as zealous in his loyalty to his family as Itachi'd ever been. He might not have enjoyed looking after his infant cousin very much, but Jiraiya still knew that he'd take an accusation of wanton violence, future or otherwise, as the gravest of insults.

What could he say? How could he _tell _this boy? This shinobi who embodied what Sarutobi called the will of fire so brightly that he'd melted the frigid discipline of Hatake Kakashi, of all fucking people?

Kimura answered the question for him.

"Your family is gone," he said without preamble. "Besides Sasuke, there is only one living Uchiha…and this eye." He pointed to his headband.

* * *

Obito's reaction was so transparent and expected that nobody expressed surprise, or indeed expressed _anything, _when he turned around and careened back toward home at a dead sprint. Jiraiya gritted his teeth and cursed before he vanished from sight. Kimura was next to disappear, leaving his younger counterpart and former teammate to catch up.

Sasuke was performing a basic drill with his teammates—with Minato supervising a ways away—when his cousin slammed into him and drove him straight to the ground. It was a mark of Sasuke's discipline that he didn't gasp, cry out, or even look unruffled, when he looked upon the rabid, savage look in his elder cousin's blazing black eyes.

"I want answers, you son of a bitch," Obito hissed through clenched teeth. "And if I don't get them, I swear to God I'll _beat _them out of you!" Kakashi came next, grabbing Obito by the arms and pulling him off, holding his teammate back as he struggled to get free. "Goddamn it, Sasuke!" he screamed, _"What happened? __**What the holy fuck happened to my family!"**_

Naruto and Sakura, who'd merely looked mildly curious at first, now exchanged worried glances. Minato came running up to them. "Obito!" he snapped. "What do you think you're doing? Shape up, soldier!"

There was no mistaking the command in the Yellow Flash's tone, and Obito stopped straining against Kakashi's grip, standing rigid as a statue as Sasuke rose smoothly to his feet. Contrary to what his teammates might have worried, he looked as stone-faced as he always did. Obito may as well have asked him what time it was, or whether his birthday was coming up soon.

Sasuke leveled a calm, cool stare on his clansman. "They were murdered."

He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world; which, of course, to Sasuke it _was. _In some mockery of comic irony, he actually looked amused by his cousin's behavior. The bomb that Sakura, especially, expected to have gone off seemed not only diffused; it hadn't even been put together.

"What the _hell _do you mean, murdered?" Obito roared.

"They were living, and someone decided they shouldn't," Sasuke replied flatly as Kimura and Jiraiya blurred into existence. "That is typically what _murdered _means."

Obito shook Kakashi away from him, balled up his fist and sent it straight into Sasuke's face, sending him reeling backward. "Don't play games with me, you little _shit! _I'm your goddamned superior officer, and you'll answer me straight or I'll rip your smug fucking face off!"

"Obito, that's _enough," _Minato declared.

"Like _hell _it is!" Obito shot back. "Stay out of this, Sensei. Answer me. _Now."_

Minato blinked in surprise, and was about to reply. Jiraiya held up a hand to silence him.

Sasuke wiped a trickle of blood away from his mouth and straightened his shirt. "A number of years from now," he said, voice as cold and unfeeling as wind in a graveyard, "a certain man will have gained enough power to become one of the greatest ninja in Konoha's history. This certain man will decide, in whatever serves him for wisdom, that all members of the Uchiha bloodline, save one, no longer deserve the privilege of living. This certain man will slaughter every member of your family: your mother, your uncles, your aunts, your cousins. He will leave the last remaining Uchiha alive, sniveling on the floor of his parents' bedchamber. He will become this village's most infamous criminal, and the Uchiha Clan will become nothing but a bitter relic of memory."

The way he said it, the cold and declamatory way that he related the most blasphemous event ever seen by the Hidden Leaf, sent shivers down his team's spines. Even Kimura seemed…perturbed. Jiraiya looked surprised.

Minato looked angry.

His students were…horrified.

All traces of anger having melted away, Obito's lip quivered as he tried to speak. "W-Who…was it…?"

It was a standard next question. Indeed, it was the one that was echoing in the minds of Minato, Rin, and Kakashi; perhaps they figured, since Sasuke wasn't showing any kind of reaction to the topic of discussion, that he would relate this part as well. Complete the picture.

_Now _Sasuke looked angry. A trace of cold, livid fury flashed across his pale face, and he grimaced. "If you truly wish for the answer to that question, you're just as stupid as you look." It sounded, like it often did, like _Sasuke _were the elder; like he was dispensing wisdom upon an up-and-comer._ "_If you're quite finished, I believe you have a mission to complete. Get out of my sight, and don't show your face again until you've fulfilled your obligations."

He turned away, apparently deciding that the discussion was over.

Obito, quite clearly, believed otherwise. Sasuke was spun back around and lifted into the air by the wide collar of his shirt.

Glinting, almost glowing red eyes stared up at him.

"I asked you…a question…_recruit."_

* * *

_**Gasp! Could it be…?**_

_**Sorry; I shouldn't be flippant. I think we've all been waiting for this revelation to hit since the story's inception. Like Minato and Kushina meeting their son, like Kakashi standing face-to-face with…Kakashi, we all knew that Obito would eventually come across the knowledge that, in a pitifully short time, his entire clan would join him in death.**_

_**Of course, we as readers of the manga know something they don't: Itachi isn't (entirely) to blame for it. Although it seems only Jiraiya has suspicions. I think this fits in well with his character. Regardless of anything he is, Jiraiya is a shrewd individual, and he knows how to read people.**_

_**Things are really shaping up to flip history on its head now. The pieces are all in motion, the motivations laid out bare for all to contemplate. Even the Hokage knows about it.**_

_**Who knows where things will go from here?**_

_**I hope you'll join me as we find out.**_

_**See you next time.**_


	26. Eyes Better Left Blind

_**This chapter, aside from addressing the immediate aftermath of the last scene of chapter 25, attempts to delve a bit deeper into the various effects that this whole situation is having on the characters; in particular: Sasuke, Obito, and Kimura.**_

_** I don't have much to say to preface this one, so I'll just let the chapter speak for itself.**_

_** Enjoy.**_

* * *

Of all things to happen next, perhaps the least likely was exactly what happened: Sasuke smirked.

Of course, on a normal person, this might have been a grin, or an outright smile. But every expression on Uchiha Sasuke's face came out with an undercurrent of anger, and so even one of pleasure came out looking sarcastic. There was a kind of snide satisfaction plastered on his face now, and he didn't look the least bit uncomfortable; no choking, no shaking, no sputtering.

He said, in a voice that was as calm as it was slithering, "…For once, it seems as though that story has done some amount of good." He reached up, slowly, and tapped the reflective metal of his headband. "Look."

Perhaps it was the way he said it. Perhaps it was the part of Obito so obsessed with proving himself. Whatever it was, it sliced through the elder Uchiha's anger and made him obey. He looked. Everyone was looking.

Obito's grip on Sasuke slackened, and Sasuke hopped down to the ground again. The arm that had been holding him up swung down, lifeless, at his side. His other hand reached up to his face, and he stared at it. He looked at his younger cousin, who was still smirking. With calm assurance, Sasuke gathered himself, his stance easy, and began cycling through a series of hand seals. There was no particular rhyme or reason to the seals he selected; he was not performing a jutsu.

Obito watched, mesmerized, his red-tinged eyes wide and bright.

He began mimicking Sasuke's pattern, seemingly without realizing what he was doing. Sasuke, his smirk widening, picked up speed. So did Obito. It was like a modified staring contest; neither blinked, nor did they seem in any way aware of the world around them. Half the spectators looked relieved; the other half stole glances at each other, wondering when the explosion would happen.

Naruto had spent a good many years doing his level best to annoy his rival, often to the point of provoking attack, simply because he found it to be good sport; the one taboo, the single thing he'd _never _used as ammunition, was the Uchiha Clan. One, it never would have crossed Naruto's mind to even bring up the topic; two, he knew subconsciously that to do so would be suicide. Everyone in Konoha—at least, the Konoha where the massacre had happened—knew better. Even the Hokage herself wasn't exempt from the last Uchiha's wrath, if she'd dared to do what Obito had just done.

And yet…Sasuke didn't seem to mind.

He almost looked happy. At least, as happy as Sasuke ever looked (which wasn't saying much).

The cycle kept going; the seals were nearly too fast to follow. Yet Obito kept up. His muscles seemed to be working independent of his mind. The same could be said for Sasuke, whose own eyes had activated sometime in the midst of this ritual. Eventually, Naruto and Sakura sat down as they watched; Kakashi and Rin followed suit soon after.

Kimura, Minato, and Jiraiya remained standing.

Soon, the two clansmen were so entrenched in their contest that their hands were twin blurs, and only Kimura—who had lifted up his headband—seemed to still be following them. Sasuke and Obito were both sweating, their faces cold masks of concentration, their bodies rigid as statues; it seemed as though soon, their muscles would have to give out.

Naruto leaned over to Sakura and whispered in her ear: "Bet you lunch tomorrow Sasuke gives out first."

Sakura's eyes didn't even twitch away from the spectacle as she said, "You're on."

A small eternity passed, and they finally stopped on the seal of the ram. It seemed like some sort of quiet understanding had passed between them, because there were no traces of anger in Obito anymore, nor Sasuke. They inclined their heads to each other.

And then, as though nothing at all had just transpired, Obito said, "My bad. We got work to do. Let's get started."

Minato blinked, and stared at Jiraiya.

The hermit shrugged, and disappeared.

"You heard the man," Kimura said, replacing his headband. "On your feet."

Kakashi and Rin stood, and followed their replacement commander out of the clearing.

Naruto rose slowly to his feet, like he expected Sasuke to pounce on him like a wild animal. He cleared his throat, and said, "So…um…what the fuck."

Sasuke cracked his knuckles. "Back to business."

"No. Seriously. _What the fuck."_

Sasuke crouched into a fighting stance.

As Sakura got up, she said, "I don't think he's going to answer you."

"I don't think I give a crap. I'll _make _him answer me." He gestured beckoningly to his teammate. "Bring it, pinkeye."

* * *

Unlike Naruto, Kakashi and Rin opted for a more tactful approach; Rin congratulated her teammate on finally activating his birthright, and asked him how it felt to use it. Did anything look…different? Did his eyes feel any different?

"Not really," Obito admitted. "Things're just…you know, clearer. Like putting glasses on, I guess. It's like muscle memory just takes over. All those seals; I couldn't tell ya how many we went through, or which order. I think that's the whole point. It's just…natural. Kinda creepy, actually." He fell into step beside Rin, imitating her every movement flawlessly. "See?" he asked, and Rin scrunched up her face in confusion. Obito mimicked the expression.

His anger had vanished. Or at least, he had refused to let it control him for now. Every once in a while, Rin or Kakashi would notice him clench his teeth and narrow his eyes; such grim displays were unusual for him. Nonetheless, he would snap out of it quickly, and come off with some quirk or quip seemingly just to remind them—or perhaps himself—that he was still Uchiha Obito, the wacky but loveable soldier-child who, by all rights, should have at least stumbled his way into serious injury by now, if not outright died.

By the time the five shinobi stopped and made camp for the night, it was long past dark.

"We're up at dawn," Kimura announced. "We need to make up for lost time."

As soon as things were settled and watch was decided, Obito stumbled and fell to the ground. He was unconscious before he landed, and was snoring softly in seconds. Kimura smirked beneath his mask. "I've never seen a sharingan user last that long on his first run."

Jiraiya glanced at the unconscious chuunin. "One thing you have to give him: he's got stamina."

Kimura sat down, and with a meaningful look at his subordinates, silently ordered them to do the same. They did. Jiraiya stepped closer to the other three and said, "This mission has already changed," he said. "There's no use in hiding it from you."

"According to events the way I remember them," Kimura said somberly, "Uchiha Obito has roughly forty-seven hours to live." Rin sucked in a gasp, and Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "For all we know, the delay caused by his run-in with Sasuke, or the fact that we are here instead of Minato-sama, or the fact that you have learned from my students, will have changed the way this mission will unfold."

"But we can't rely on that," Jiraiya put in. "You three will have to work _together_. Do you understand? Not your typical bickering. Minato puts up with it because he's a soft touch, and he has a tendency to treat you like children. We won't be."

"_Do not _let this knowledge of the potential future affect your performance," Kimura added. "You all know before beginning a mission that death is a possibility. This is no different."

"Understood," Rin said.

Kakashi nodded silently.

"Turn in," Kimura said, gesturing dismissively.

With a glance at Jiraiya, he set off into the forest.

Jiraiya watched Rin and Kakashi settle themselves before following.

* * *

"The old man should have announced Kakashi's promotion by now," Jiraiya said as he caught up with the young jounin. "Wasn't this supposed to be his first mission as a jounin?"

"It was also supposed to be an infiltration mission, to sabotage the enemy's supply line," Kimura said. "Things are fundamentally _different _here. The war isn't moving as quickly as we remember."

"It seems like the joint training has made some difference," Jiraiya noted. "They're not arguing. They seem to have graduated to ignoring each other outright. Which is still dangerous, but better than hostility."

"Which may be just the thing we need to ensure the success of this campaign. I'll ask you again: are you sure about this? Are you sure you want to be meddling in something as delicate as time?"

"It doesn't matter at this point. Things are too far gone to salvage now. We're best off doing what we can to adjust to the situation, and use this second chance for what it is."

"You look doubtful."

"Don't I always? Anyway…" A devious grin rose on the hermit's face. "I say we use this lull to our advantage. If the war is moving slowly…we should be utilizing the time it's affording us to…sharpen our weapons, don't you think?"

Kimura raised an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind?"

"Let's show those kids just how important cohesion is. The word of the day is teamwork, right?"

A soft chuckle. "Interesting."

"Shall we?"

"Certainly."

* * *

They woke to chaos.

Kakashi, the lightest sleeper, was up first; their camp was in shambles, and the shuffling about the trees was enough to send the young chuunin into a rush of battle-fever. "Rin! Obito!" As soon as he heard Rin stir, he was off.

He could hear the enemy; it took him a few seconds to realize that he was being sent in a circle about the camp, and he leaped in another direction to cut off his prey. A blur of motion and the _clang _of metal on his wrist-guard was all the introduction he had to the _second _intruder, and he twisted mid-air to try—futilely—for a glimpse at them. He saw nothing, and as he landed on an outstretched branch and gathered his slowly-sharpening wits, Kakashi slowed his breathing.

Rin was up, scouting their camp from the ground; Obito was shuffling to his feet. A moment later, he was crouched and searching, and his eyes swept over the trees. Kakashi noted, bemused, that Obito never would have found him the morning before, but because of the bright red magic in his eyes, he stopped for the barest of moments to acknowledge the third member of the team. He swept his blood-colored gaze across the camp, scowling.

The three chuunin spent the next several minutes straining to make sense of the attack. Was it a scouting party? They seemed to be playing with them; showing themselves just long enough to ensure that they weren't a hallucination, but never long enough to get a clear glimpse of them. Doing just enough to be annoying: sending a knife down into the soft ground right next to Rin's foot, or tossing a smoke bomb just close enough to Obito to irritate him, but never to obscure his vision entirely.

Eventually, Kakashi hopped down and joined his compatriots.

"What the hell's going on?" Obito hissed.

"Where's Jiraiya-sama? Kimura-sensei?" Rin wondered.

And all of a sudden, Kakashi straightened and blinked. "I understand," he said. "We're not children," he called out, louder. "There's no need for such a juvenile test of our ability."

"…Really?"

Flash, bang, shuffle, scream.

One moment Kakashi was sweeping his eyes across the clearing, ignoring the strange looks his teammates were giving him; the next he was blinded, doubled over as he covered his nose. "Don't breathe it in!" he snarled; the burning of the ground peppers had gone straight into his eyes before he'd ever realized anything had been thrown at them. His eyes had been set afire, tears springing from the corners like tiny fountains.

When he finally regained control of himself, he looked up and saw Obito standing nearby, his red-tinged eyes covered by his goggles, holding the collar of his jacket up over the bottom of his face. He was frozen, a blade clutched in his remaining fist. Kakashi turned to follow the Uchiha's gaze and saw Rin, unconscious, held slumped over the shoulder of an enemy shinobi; the headband bore the crest of the Hidden Rock, a deep gash running straight through it.

"What's that talk of being juvenile?" the Rock ninja sneered. "You're the ones caught with your pants down."

"Shove it!" Obito barked.

Kakashi crossed his arms. "Clever, Sensei. But I'm not playing your game."

"Sensei? Got me mistook for someone else, boy."

"No. I don't think I do."

"Kakashi, what the hell—"

"Look close. Use those eyes you're so proud of."

Obito's brow furrowed, but he did as ordered. "…Oh, that's not even funny. Goddamn it."

The Rock ninja shifted into Jiraiya. "Clever brats," he said, smirking, "but the lesson isn't over just yet." He glanced over Kakashi's shoulder. Kimura appeared, stone-silent and rigid, between Obito and Kakashi.

In a blur of movement so fast that it would have surprised even Minato, Kimura sent the both of them sprawling. He somehow managed to strike them both in about six different places before they hit the ground, and neither could even stand up for a solid ten seconds, their muscles having gone on strike.

The man with Kakashi's looks and Obito's eye stared down at them like a furious emperor, black and red glaring at them as though he could kill them by pure willpower. When he spoke, his voice was low, soft, and murderous:

"If you are so confident in your ability to undertake this mission, how is it that we have managed to isolate one of you so pathetically easily?" Obito began to protest, but Kimura cut him off. _"Silence! _Your individual skills have served you well enough to notice us, to keep track of us. But as soon as we worked to sabotage you, you fell apart. Is _this _the best a chuunin can offer? Your teammate is in enemy hands! Your oh-so-admirable skills did nothing to protect her, did they? Is a combat medic so valueless to you that you would let her be taken from you so easily?"

Obito seemed to realize that to argue further was a fruitless effort. He settled for brooding.

"You!" Kimura snarled at Kakashi. "The first chance you had, you spent to distance yourself! Did it do you any good? Did using them as _bait _serve any purpose? You thought you were simply scouting the area, didn't you? You thought you were helping them, didn't you? Then answer me this, Hatake Kakashi: what good did it do? How effective was your performance? Have they _held you back? _Is that the excuse you've constructed this time?"

Kakashi scowled, but said nothing.

"Your teacher has strained to teach you the value of cohesion. The importance of structure, of understanding, of vigilance. He has apparently taught you _nothing. _You three could not fight together to save your lives."

Jiraiya all but tossed Rin to Obito, who struggled to catch her and ended up flat on his backside. "We know well enough that compared to your usual stupidity, this mission so far has gone swimmingly. Somehow, you and Kakashi have managed to refrain from snapping and snarling at each other. Rin has not had to placate you, nor have we had to discipline you. But what good does silence do if it leads to such complacency?"

"What would you have done, if we _had _been the enemy?" Kimura asked. "What if, instead of an unconscious medic, that was a corpse on your lap?"

"I'd…" Obito began, clearly shaken, "…I'd keep…going."

"We would complete the mission," Kakashi said.

"And if we had seen the value of a trained medic better than you, and taken her?"

"We would complete the mission," Kakashi said.

_"Wrong!" _Kimura roared. "You would compound failure with failure? You would leave such loose ends? You would _abandon _your comrade?" Kakashi began to speak, but Kimura overrode him. "You would spit on the values of your village. You would turn your back on what better men than you have fought and died to protect. You would tell me that ninja must act as tools, they must discard emotion, they must be as machines. What good does that do to anyone? What worth do you attribute to a life spent as a soulless puppet? Do you kill for the simple sake of it? A war fought on such principles is nothing but senseless slaughter. Is _that _what you stand for? Is _that_ what the man who will become Hokage has taught you?"

"A shinobi must act—" Kakashi began hotly.

"Why do you fight, soldier?" Kimura asked.

"…I fight because I have been called to fight."

"And who has called you to fight?"

"The Hokage."

"Why has the Hokage called you to fight?"

"For the Hidden Leaf."

"Is your comrade not the Hidden Leaf? Is the girl you would sentence to death not the Hidden Leaf? You fight for your village? You sit here and speak such hypocrisy to me?"

"I…I…"

But it was no good. The look of absolute hatred etched into Kimura's face had rendered all words useless in Kakashi's mouth. He stopped, and stared, and said nothing more.

Jiraiya began clearing up the mess that had been made of their camp. "If you're done insulting your leader and spitting on his expectations," he said, "I would suggest you get to work. We have a mission to conduct, and too much time has been wasted teaching you lessons that you should have learned before ever stepping onto the field."

Kakashi and Obito set to work, each lost in thought, as their teammate lay stretched out on the grass, looking peaceful. Kimura stood, waiting, staring at Rin as though fearful that she would remain that way forever.

His anger spent, he now looked haunted.

He would not have looked out of place at a funeral.


	27. A Paradox in the Making

_**A short while ago, I came to a conclusion about this story. That is to say, I've finally figured out what I'm doing here. I have an outline. I know where I'm going, and how it's going to unfold. In short, things are no longer nebulous. I'm no longer floundering in the middle of the desert. I found a map, and I'm heading somewhere definite.**_

_**My first year at university has now reached a conclusion. I worked my brain into a frenzy this semester, and earned a 4.0 for my trouble. This isn't meant to be an excuse, merely an explanation of what I've been doing lately.**_

_**Speaking of which, I'm now on Facebook. Instead of my old blog, I'll be posting everything I do—fanfiction, original fiction, nonfiction or otherwise—on there. If you want to keep up with all my various ravings, look for the Iced Blood from Lodi, California.**_

_**Further, I've started up something new: "The Cottage at the Edge of Forever," a new Blogspot blog I've set up for all things original fiction from yours truly. So if you'd like to see what I do when I have autonomy over both world and inhabitants, head on over to ib-fantasy (dot) blogspot (dot) com.**_

_**All right, now that that's out of the way, let's get started, shall we?**_

* * *

Whatever bile that Kimura had spat out onto his younger self, getting rid of it seemed to have put him in a much better mood. He returned to his usual almost-jovial casualness, and for the first time his new subordinates understood what it was about the man that felt so familiar: his personality was almost a perfect mixture of Kakashi—obviously—and Obito. There were bits and pieces of other people to be found in him, to be sure, but it all seemed to stem from those primary sources.

Rin, the most introspective out of the three of them—or, if not, then certainly the most open to psychological theorizing—wondered if this had to do with Obito's sacrifice in Kimura's memory. If it had to do with the fact that one of his eyes had belonged to the black-sheep Uchiha. If she were more superstitious, she might think that it was whatever remained of Obito's…essence. Not his ghost, per se, but some echo of him. But she was more inclined to believe that it had to do with some need to repent. She knew Kakashi to be somewhat masochistic, especially in his rigid adherence to tradition, and was it so out of the realm of possibility for him to…take up the mantle of his former teammate in recompense for ignoring him all the years they'd worked together? Could Obito's death have made such a change in him?

It was possible, surely.

As they continued to make their way toward Rock territory, Rin made more careful observations of her two commanding officers. The Jiraiya she knew was protective of the younger generations of Leaf-nin, and surely would have reprimanded Kimura—not necessarily for being angry with his younger self, but for venting so explosively. Or, if not reprimanded, at least he would have disapproved. The Jiraiya she knew was a lecherous old man, to be sure, but he was also fiercely proud of his prized protégé's team.

This Jiraiya seemed fully behind Kimura's actions, and that—more than anything he'd said or done so far—was what finally, fully, convinced Rin that he was from a different time. He was more jaded. He was angrier. And…he seemed, strangely enough, wiser. Like some sense of naiveté left over from his youth had finally been sloughed off.

Rin shuddered to think what had happened in this man's life to cause such a change. She wondered if it was like Kimura; perhaps it was the death of Minato? Definitely, the idea of losing her commander was a daunting prospect for Rin, and this Jiraiya had _lived _it.

So had Kimura.

By the time they reached the allotted position, deep in the heart of enemy territory, the young kunoichi had become so wrapped up in her musings that she wasn't consciously aware that they had stopped yet. She continued to stare at the two figures leading them. In a sudden moment of strange, unbidden sadism, Rin hoped that something went wrong with this mission.

She wanted to see these two angry, sorrowful, guilty legends fight.

* * *

"So, um…Dad."

Minato glanced over at his son and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I wanted to ask you somethin'. Y'know, things are different here, and…well, something I noticed pretty quick—I mean, it's pretty hard _not _to—izzat the Uchiha Clan's still around. Y'know, like Sasuke said, they're wiped out where…when…we come from."

Minato's expression turned grave. "Yes. It must be quite a shock, especially to Sasuke."

"Yeah. Prob'ly. But…well, Sasuke don't wanna tell who it was. The guy who did it. But since I been here, I've met 'em. Face-to-face, right? And they don't look…y'know, _bad. _Truth is, they look pretty good t' me. Not the sorta person who'd just go snap-bang 'n murder a buncha people."

"It's strange, what sorts of things can drive a person to commit horrible things." Minato noted the world-weariness in his own voice and inwardly sighed in exasperation; was Jiraiya rubbing off on him _this _badly? Indeed, Naruto sent his father a strange look. Minato continued: "Sasuke said this one person managed to kill every member of the clan. Not just the retired ones, or the younger ones, but even the shinobi in the prime of their careers. That takes…well, I don't know what it takes. But surely this person was…is…a ninja."

"Yeah." Naruto looked like he wasn't sure he should be affirming this or not, but he eventually shrugged. "I mean, sure. How could they _not _be, right? Like you said."

"A ninja…well, actually, any soldier, is a walking time-bomb. Sometimes they're well-adjusted enough to come out of the job with their sanity left relatively intact. But when you're faced with the sorts of missions that we're called upon to complete…well, sometimes your faith in people wanes. You can't figure out why so many people resort to violence. You start to wonder why your job is even necessary. You think that the world would be so much better if people like you didn't exist, if the training you went through just died off like an old religion. And future generations would study you and think, 'Wow, how barbaric. I'm glad we don't do that anymore.'"

Naruto frowned. "Sounds like you've thought about this a lot."

"I have. Too often to be considered healthy, if you want to know the truth." Minato stuffed his hands into his pockets. He glanced guiltily at his son. "It sounds like this rogue Uchiha went through something like that. Maybe he, or she, finally decided that enough was enough. And snapped. Maybe the reason that Sasuke was left alone was because he was young, still impressionable, and might learn from the trauma. Like this person was saying, 'See? This is what the training gives to the world. This is what we are. Run away.'"

Naruto frowned, stewing on this for a long while. He eventually said, "Maybe. I don't know much about the Uchiha Clan. Never had much to do with 'em. But I think if somebody'd, y'know, take a bit of time 'n listen, tell 'em a few things now. You know, a long time before it happens? Maybe it'll change things."

"I know Sasuke doesn't want us to know who it was, but I can tell that you know. You say you've met this person. Do you think they would listen, if someone talked to them?"

"…Yeah. I do. I really do."

Minato smiled and ruffled the young ninja's messy blond hair, so like his own. "Then do it. Go and talk to them. It can't hurt. From what I hear, you're pretty good at convincing people to see things the right way."

Naruto smiled tentatively. "Maybe."

Minato assumed a stern, paternal air. "No maybes, Mister. Consider this a mission from your father, the future Fourth Hokage: find this person, and get to know them. Figure them out. See what you can do to help them. People make the mistake of thinking that monsters are born. But they're made. Sometimes, just knowing someone gives a damn is enough to stem the tide."

The smile on Naruto's face widened. "Ain't _that _the truth?"

* * *

"He's getting worse."

Sarutobi scowled, but made no reply. He sat at table with the council that _thought _they comprised the real power in the Hidden Leaf, and he liked it about as much as he always had; which was to say, not at all. He was an old man, and old men have the lowest threshold for nonsense of any human being on the planet, unless it was perhaps old women.

To listen to these bureaucrats and armchair generals talk about _his _soldiers like they were either upstart children, powder kegs, or chess pieces always set the Third Hokage on edge. He knew well and good that having a body of power disconnected to the almost religious doctrines of the shinobi was a good thing; it kept balance. But all the same, he couldn't help but hate them.

"He's forgotten how this village runs. He seems to think that being a member of one of the founding clans gives him leverage." They all turned to Sarutobi as though expecting a representative apology; he remained stone-silent. "He must be brought to understand that such arrogance will not be tolerated."

"It's _been _tolerated up to this point," Sarutobi growled, his scowl deepening. "To enforce the rules now seems a pointless, and petty, gesture."

"And do you suggest that let Uchiha Fugaku run roughshod over the government of this village?" came the snappish reply.

"I suggest that you act like adults," the Hokage snapped right back, "and understand that half the reason the Uchiha have become so arrogant and power-hungry is because you have _allowed _them to be."

"And what of _you?"_

"Do not rest responsibility for this matter solely upon my shoulders, you who insist so mightily that I take what you say under advisement. I have asked with great humility on any number of occasions for the chance to govern my soldiers in the way that _I _see fit. Each time, I am reminded that the Hokage is responsible for the actions of the shinobi, but that this council is responsible for the actions of the Hokage. I humbly request that this council make up its mind."

They bristled.

Sarutobi was beyond caring.

"Be that as it may," came a new voice, belonging to the most sensible councilmember, "the truth of the matter rests before us. We must make a decision regarding what to _do _about the Uchiha Clan. Not who to blame."

"I ask that I be allowed to look into the matter with impunity," Sarutobi said, standing. "If I am unable to discover an acceptable solution within a reasonable amount of time, then I submit to the will of this council."

A long silence.

"…Very well. Do as you will."

Sarutobi bowed his head, and left the room.

* * *

"There's no use dancing around it any longer," Sarutobi said wearily as he leaned back in his chair. "The position is yours already. All you have to do is step up and ask for it. So I ask you, Minato, for your suggestion: what should be done about the Uchiha Clan?"

Minato sat on the opposite side of his commander's desk, one leg crossed over the other. He said, "I've been thinking about that. I'd have to be blind not to notice that they're getting…restless. Foolhardy, some might say. I assume you're catching heat from the council about them."

"You assume correctly."

The young jounin uncrossed his legs and stood up, beginning to pace the length of the room. "Power lends itself to feelings of superiority. Delusions of grandeur, if you like. Sensei would probably propose that we clock them one. Just line them up and smack them, one after the other." He chuckled. "I'm not sure I care that that wouldn't work. I'd just like to _do _it."

Sarutobi's lips curved upward the slightest bit. "I'm afraid that won't be happening."

"No, probably not. All right, then, I suppose we'll have to think diplomatically." Minato's shoulders slumped as he seemed to deflate at the prospect. "So…we have to ask ourselves, why are the Uchiha such a problem?"

"They show an increasing unwillingness to adhere to the wishes and doctrines of the council."

"Yes, but why?"

"The elders of the clan are of the collective opinion that their bloodline affords them the power and influence to shrug off the authority of said council. Perhaps they believe that _they _could lead the Hidden Leaf more effectively."

"Could they?" Minato raised an eyebrow. "Honestly, now."

Sarutobi frowned. "I do believe that an impartial branch of government is important for the balance of power. There are a great number of citizens here who do not practice the shinobi arts. Are we to take away their only voice of power, by placing full control over to the hands of a ninja clan? A ninja clan already comprised of the resident police force?"

Minato frowned back. "Fair enough. But let's be realistic, here: is the council _really _here to represent the needs and wants of the civilians? They're pretty drunk on power, themselves. They get off on the idea that they can pull at the strings of the Hokage. They've got a wild animal four times their size on a leash, chuckling to themselves as they throw rocks at it."

"Are you insinuating that I am a volatile beast, prone to rampaging through the streets?" Sarutobi raised a sardonic eyebrow.

"I'm not _not _insinuating that," Minato said. "All I'm saying is that their issues with the Uchiha resemble the kettle-black paradigm a bit too closely for my comfort. They're scared. Regardless of whether those fears are well-founded, the fact remains that they're biased, not to mention paranoid. That paranoia is bound to split this village right down the middle long before the Uchiha do."

Sarutobi thought about this, smoke drifting lazily from his pipe as he bit down on the other end, nearly chewing it, when the door opened and a new figure strode inside. Both Sarutobi and Minato turned to regard the arrival with surprise; the door had been locked.

Or had it?

Jiraiya stood in the middle of the room, with an unreadable expression on his face. Sarutobi leaned forward, half-expecting to be told that Minato's students—as well as the mysterious new Hatake jounin—had run into trouble. Serious trouble.

Then he realized something.

Jiraiya's face was smoother. His eyes were brighter.

He was…younger.

"What's this nonsense about me supervising a mission with the brats? I haven't been here for months."


	28. Dangers, Toils and Snares

_**There's not much to say about this chapter. I mentioned earlier that I've figured out my endgame for this project, and we're approaching it. This story has been going on for a long, long time, and instinct tells me we're nearing the end of the road.**_

_**I don't know whether this story will reach its conclusion in three chapters, five chapters, or whatever, but I do know that it's coming soon. If there's anything in particular that you've been wanting to see come to fruition, any plot threads you feel I've been neglecting, et cetera, please feel free to let me know.**_

_**As I often say, you (the audience) are just as much a part of the life of my projects as I am.**_

_**With that said, I hope you enjoy this installment.**_

* * *

"Well…that answers the main question," Sarutobi murmured, far more calmly than Minato might have expected. He stood, benignly nonchalant as he regarded his student. He gestured. "Please. Sit." Then he sighed and glanced over at his eventual successor. "Minato, I have a request to make of you. Go and find the others." He didn't have to be specific; Minato knew exactly which "others" to whom his commander was referring. "I will take the time to…explain the situation."

"Understood."

And just like that, everything changed. Minato spent the next few hours following his team's trail, thinking about…well, a great number of things. In truth, he had been expecting the "current" Jiraiya to show his face eventually, ever since the story had broken that the Jiraiya with whom he'd been dealing lately was from the future. That was perhaps the only reason he wasn't particularly surprised. What _did _strike him, rather pointedly, was the difference in personalities between the two versions of his mentor. The future Jiraiya seemed much more…personable. Easier to get along with. Easier to read.

Who knew? Personal tragedy could make a person lighten up.

Not for nothing was Namikaze Minato called the Yellow Flash; he caught up with his students and his teacher in record time, just as they seemed to be heading back home…and judging by the looks on their faces, the results of the mission had been less than successful. Of the five of them, only Obito seemed surprised to see him.

"Heading our way?" Jiraiya offered, raising a curious eyebrow.

"Something like that," Minato replied. "It seems, ah…_you _decided to take a detour into the village."

It took a moment for the old hermit to understand Minato's meaning, but a few seconds later his eyes went wide. "Are you serious? He…_I…_where?"

"When I left, he was in the Hokage's office. As to where he is now…your guess is immeasurably better than mine. I've been ordered to bring you back. Seems you're…ah…done here, anyway. I suppose you didn't find anything useful."

"Not a whiff of anything halfway resembling relevant."

"Does that match up with what either of you remember?" Minato asked, glancing at Jiraiya and Kimura both. "No. I can tell it doesn't. Seems like I hit a nerve. What's going on?"

"As I mentioned to your students," Kimura said, "this mission is…very particular in my memory. It was on this mission, in my memory, that I lost my eye…and Uchiha Obito died." Minato flinched violently, and glanced spasmodically at Obito, who averted his own gaze in favor of his own feet. "The question of whether or not we should affect the future has been rendered moot. Our very presence has had a number of entirely unpredictable results."

"I have a feeling that that's what the Hokage wants to speak to you about," Minato said. "Now that the Jiraiya of this time period has shown himself, I'm sure he wants to regroup and…make a final decision on how to deal with this."

"Well," Jiraiya murmured thoughtfully, with a decidedly conflicted look on his face, "I suppose that means…" He trailed off, cleared his throat, and adjusted his equipment. "Let's go."

"You suppose _what_ means?" Minato asked, even though he knew Jiraiya wouldn't answer.

He didn't.

* * *

Naruto spent the day skulking around the Uchiha Compound, using the experience as an excuse to practice his stealth techniques. Something that helped him immensely was the fact that nobody recognized him. Recognition was the ultimate death-stroke for any shinobi trying to keep himself alive—or so his elders kept telling him whenever they tried to tell him that he should ditch the bright orange jumpsuit.

He watched them (the Uchiha, not his elders) as best he could, considering his generally hyperactive attention span; he didn't really sense anything out of place for a lot of them. They just seemed like normal people. A bit…standoffish, sure, but normal enough. Naruto had had his fair share of dealings with pretentious people, and it was no surprise to him that one of the oldest clans in the entire Hidden Leaf would have a bit of a heightened image of themselves.

They didn't seem all that offensive to him. He wondered if something would change as time went on, if there was a specific event in Uchiha history that would convince the elder son of Uchiha Fugaku to sentence these people to death.

Much like the specific event in Uchiha history that had convinced the younger son of Uchiha Fugaku to sentence his own brother to death.

Naruto found Itachi playing in a garden, watched over by a young woman that Naruto assumed was his mother.

He didn't see any of the haughtiness, the hubris, in either of these two that he had in the others. Itachi, in particular, looked as carefree and oblivious as a baby bird. It was clear, in the games he chose to play, that he was already learning how to fight. He tossed rocks at a knot in a tree; he went through a number of half-finished and barely-recognizable strings of kicks and punches. Mother Uchiha—there was a regality about the woman, a noble air, that made Naruto think of a religious figure—looked torn between pride and fear, watching what was now her only son go through these rituals of death.

It was that look, that immeasurable pain at war with acceptance, that struck a chord in Naruto's mind and made him truly consider the gravity of what a shinobi was; what _he _was. He had thought about it a number of times in the past, during various missions. But never quite this way.

So wrapped up in this reverie, Naruto wasn't nearly as careful as he should have been; though to be fair, he had never been known as a careful person in the best of situations, anyway. Mikoto (not that he knew this was her name, or that her husband's name was Fugaku; the only Uchiha members that Naruto knew were Sasuke and Itachi) glanced up at him, directly into his eyes, and said, "How long are you going to hide up there without saying hello?"

Naruto wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he knew enough about people to recognize the different types of calm. There was the calm that came from ignorance—the sort of person who wouldn't recognize Naruto as a ninja because they didn't know what a ninja was. There was the calm that came from arrogance—the sort of person who wouldn't recognize Naruto as a ninja because they had a very _specific_ idea of what a ninja was. And then there was the calm that came from sheer, unadulterated confidence. That was what this woman had.

She wasn't concerned about Naruto hiding in tree branches and watching her because she didn't have anything to fear. And she wasn't interested in showing off because she didn't have anything to prove. Naruto thought of Kakashi, and the fact that nothing ever riled him. He was too good. He had no time for pride.

This woman clearly didn't, either.

Naruto was suddenly terrified. His mind did some very, _very _fast work—some part of him was self-aware enough to realize that it probably wouldn't do him any good—before he finally just hopped down from his perch and stepped forward.

Itachi squealed happily and pointed.

Naruto bowed. "Uh…hi."

"Good afternoon."

"Sorry 'bout that. I, uh…ain't got an excuse or anything. I was just spying on you guys."

"Your name is Naruto, isn't it?"

"Yeah. U-Uzumaki Naruto. I, uh…dunno your name, ma'am."

"Call me Mikoto." The smile on her face was disarming; this coming from the most disarming ninja known to human history. "You're working with my nephew, Obito, aren't you? And his team?"

"Ah-yup. That's me. Met the little guy a while back." Naruto gestured to Itachi. "Dunno if he recognizes me. Hey, uh…listen, ah…Mikoto-san. I'm _from _here? Like, technically? But all my training's been handled out-of-house. So I dunno how things _go, _y'know? Are, there, like…rules about the compound? Do I need a password or something?"

Mikoto chuckled. "No. Not at all. But you know, we _do _tend to frown on people spying on us. Even in a place like a hidden ninja village, that's considered somewhat rude."

Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah. Well, y'know. Look, uh…can't help but notice, ah…Champ there's got some skills. Isn't it…kinda early for that?"

Mikoto gave Naruto a strange look. "Surely you didn't come all this way to talk about my baby."

"Well…no, I guess not. Jeez. I dunno _what _I'm doing." He took a moment to collect himself, trying to figure out how to ask the questions that he wanted to ask, knowing that he couldn't come right out and ask them because…well, Uchiha Mikoto didn't look like she was clinically insane.

Eventually, he just sighed.

"…Obito's been hinting he wants his mom to back off and stop treating him like a kid. Now, I know I don't really have any place asking for help about this on his behalf or whatever, but…I figured hey, why not give it a try? Seems like a good guy. Wanna help him out if I can. But, y'know, I couldn't figure out who to talk to. I don't know too many people here in the village. So I was just…scoping things out. And then you caught me."

Some part of Naruto hoped that he sounded too stupid to be lying.

He certainly _felt _that way.

* * *

Minato wasn't surprised by much.

But he couldn't deny that standing in the same room with _two_ of his old mentor…mentors? It was one of the strangest experiences of his life. It was easy to think of Kimura as a separate person, someone entirely removed from Kakashi, because of the age/height/attitude difference.

Not the case for Jiraiya. Jiraiyas. Creepy old men with too much hair.

Damn it.

The two of them were staring at each other. Or rather, Young Jiraiya was staring at Old Jiraiya. Old Jiraiya didn't look like he was the slightest bit interested in anything. He said, "If we're done with the opening act, I'd like it if we could…you know, _get on with it."_

"As charming as it is to have _two _of you bickering in my office," Sarutobi said snidely, "it would be very much appreciated if you refrain from…whatever it is that you are doing." He gestured to Old Jiraiya. "I trust that this proves your earlier theory regarding how you arrived here to be…incorrect?"

"Seems so." He almost sounded disappointed.

"The pressing question must be, then, if and when you intend to return to the time period from which you came here. How long are we to be blessed with your illustrious company?"

Old Jiraiya sighed. "However long it takes for me to work out _how."_

"I am to understand, then, that you conducted this experiment of yours without a plan in motion. You had no escape route in place."

"Honestly, I didn't think it would even _work."_

"You never have been known for the gift of foresight." Sarutobi rubbed his chin, pulled out his pipe and began his age-old ritual. "Well, then. Part of my position is utilizing every resource available to me in order to run and protect my village. You, and those you have brought with you, are a handful of those resources. Therefore, I have a question to ask of you."

Old Jiraiya shrugged, and gestured dismissively. "Fine. Ask."

Young Jiraiya looked sulky. He didn't speak.

"We are currently facing a political problem. Namely, the Uchiha." Old Jiraiya hissed in a breath. "I have been tasked with finding a way to…ahem…deal with them. If I am unable to do so in a satisfactory manner, then the problem will be relegated to the council. I would much prefer to keep this issue in-house, if you take my meaning. Thus, my question is this: what happened? What was done, in your experience?"

Old Jiraiya drew in a deep, deep breath. "You _would _have to ask about that. I've never made it a hobby of mine to dig into the dark parts of this village's history. It might be shocking to you, but I prefer to keep myself focused on the surface. It's nicer up here."

Young Jiraiya's eyes narrowed.

"The version of the story that was given to the press: one of the Uchiha's most powerful shinobi decided to take the law into his own hands and dispense judgment onto the rest of the family, in the form of a full-scale psychotic break. When people whisper about it, they call it the Uchiha Massacre. Everyone but Sasuke, the boy I brought with me, and the outlaw responsible for the deed itself. No one else, not a single, solitary soul, was left alive."

Minato spoke for the first time in many minutes: "The tone of your voice says you don't believe that story."

"I don't." Old Jiraiya actually locked eyes with his younger counterpart, looking surprised. "I've always known that even in prosperous villages, you don't deal with shinobi without getting your hands dirty. You can be as sunny and idealistic as you want; it won't help. Sometimes, even the most upstanding ninja will descend into his most primal essence: a silent, deceptive killer."

Young Jiraiya's eyes widened slightly; he seemed to actually understand who was speaking, who was looking at him.

He seemed to believe.

"Do you mean to say that the Uchiha Clan was erased? On someone's order?" Sarutobi stood.

"I've never been a fan of simple answers."

"Whose order?"

"I hope to High Heaven that it was yours. At least you would have the decency to regret the decision."

"…Who _did _it? Who was the instrument of this tragedy?"

Old Jiraiya smirked; it looked painful. "Who else? The best of them. The finest soldier they ever produced. Who else _could_ do it? The one on whom they pinned all their hopes of revolution. Apparently it was more fitting, more bitterly ironic, that way."

"You…you don't mean to say…?"

Old Jiraiya chuckled tonelessly, shook his head, and turned around. He opened the door, stepped out of the room, and shut it behind him without answering.

He didn't need to.

Sarutobi sat back down, cradled his head in his hands, and did not speak.

Eventually, the second Jiraiya left as well, leaving the old man with his de facto successor. Minato stood ramrod straight, arms crossed, his face a statue. He waited. He didn't move. He didn't breathe.

Sarutobi finally looked up at his Yellow Flash, and said:

"It's high time you lived up to your reputation, boy. Are you prepared to do that? Are you prepared to prove to _me, _alongside every resident of this village, that you deserve the mantle that I wear? That you are fit to claim this office?"

Minato nodded mechanically. "I am. What would you have of me?"

"…Fix this."


	29. The First of the Last to Go

_**The last time I updated this story, I mentioned that it was nearing its close. The reason for that is because, one, the current storyline in the manga is pretty resoundingly mangling everything I've been working toward; and two, it's become very, very hard for me to write it.**_

_**I started this story more than six years ago without a clear idea of what I was doing with it. I didn't know where to go, or what to do. It was just a fun little idea that I had, and I wanted to see what would happen.**_

_**I don't know what 19-year-old me thought was going to happen in this story, but I do know what 26-year-old me has come up with. This marks a pretty radical departure from the rest of the story, with good reason. I've said all I could think to say in the past. Now, we move toward the future. I know it's not where the story was leading, and I'm sorry about that. But this was literally the only way I could think to continue. This is the only thing I could work out.**_

_**This chapter is the penultimate installment of "What it Takes."**_

_**Chapter 30 will be the finale.**_

_**Let's get started, shall we?**_

* * *

**.**

* * *

He sets the pen down and looks out the window for a while, trying to gather his thoughts in something that might eventually resemble a working order. Then he hunkers over the desk and starts to write again.

* * *

**.**

* * *

_Whenever news comes in that Jiraiya is back in the village, the first thing I ask is "Which one?" Whenever Kakashi comes back from a mission, it takes me a while to remember that both of his eyes belong to him, and that he doesn't have to cover one of them up to save energy._

_People still wonder, and they still talk, whenever I come back from a mission and have the Hokage himself, and his beautiful wife, greet me with wide arms and wider smiles. What's so special about that blond kid? Sure, he gets shit done, but there are a crap-ton of other shinobi in the Hidden Leaf who get shit done, and none of them get hugged by Yondaime-sama._

_I don't blame them for asking questions. Nobody bothers to give them answers, so of course they're going to keep asking, more and more fervently. It's the nature of the beast. I can't help but feel bad for Sakura, though. Nobody seems hard-up for answers about her. I think it's because she was the first in her family to ever take up the cause. She was the first to put on a headband and go off to war, so the Haruno name isn't very well known. People just chalk it up to coincidence that there's another little girl named Sakura, with pink hair and a red dress, getting ready to graduate._

_We've spent years here, in what we call our past. It's been long enough that half the time, I don't even remember what my old life was like. I feel guilty about that. I think it was when I took the Chuunin Exam again, figuring that "now" was as good a time as any, that I realized a few things._

_I realized that for all my bitching and whining about nobody paying attention to me, I was a serious tool-bag to Hyuuga Hinata. I don't think a day went by without her watching me, encouraging me, smiling at me because it was unconscious and she didn't realize it. Funny how that whole hindsight thing works out. I think it comes with the training, too. Us ninja, we're trained to take in everything, to remember everything, to catalog everything, because there's no telling what might be useful, eventually._

_I was never too good at doing that, and I'm still not. But, like I said, I get shit done._

_I opted to go back to my real name, Uzumaki, somewhere along the line. I tell people I'm Kushina's cousin. Nobody doubts it, because I do actually look like her. People say we have the same smile. They wonder sometimes why I also look like her husband, but the lie is close enough to the truth that anybody questioning it ends up looking like a fringe theorist, and nobody pays attention to fringe theorists._

_I like how things turned out. For the most part. Everything pretty much happened for the best, really. Sort of. There were some tough times, but that's to be expected. The war people used to talk about in my history classes turned out to be more of a series of one-sided skirmishes, which is funny and tragic at the same time, when you think about it._

_Folks used to say that Kakashi's Team Seven had the most latent potential of pretty much any team put together in the Leaf, and now I believe them. All it took was a bit of side leadership from one of the most famous and revered leaders in shinobi history to hammer us into fighting shape._

_At least, until __**that **__happened. But I'll get to that._

_I call him Nami-sama, usually. Don't ask me why. It just kind of happened. Wouldn't do for me to call him "Dad," now, would it? But I also didn't feel right calling him Hokage-sama or Yondaime-sama or any of the other standard options because, well, he's my frickin' dad!_

_It still gets confusing sometimes._

_Another thing I realized, is that being a ninja doesn't mean fighting. Violence is a last resort. We're sent in to kill when there's no other alternative. I learned that when I watched a man I idolized dissolve the Uchiha Problem without lifting a finger. He just stood there, right outside of their compound, and asked them to meet with him. He stayed out of the compound while he waited, patient as a statue. It's weird to see, you know? Some guy who looks so much like me, with this serene look on his face. I'm a lot of things, but serene is so far out of my league that I still don't really understand what it means._

_I realized_

* * *

**.**

* * *

There's a knock at his door, and he gets up to answer it, leaving his pen sideways on an empty page, waiting for him to come back to it. He doesn't remember when he started keeping the little journal, or why, but he's been doing it for a while now, and it's just become a part of his routine. He can't help it.

A young woman stands outside his door when he opens it; she has pink hair, done up in an elaborate braid to keep it out of her green eyes. Her face is worn, older than its age, and sometimes he doesn't recognize it, but other times he sees her so clearly in that face that it sends a lance of aching pain straight through his heart and lodges somewhere in his spine, so that he can barely keep his feet.

Sakura smiles wistfully at him. "If you take much longer, you'll be late," she says. She glances over his shoulder. "It's not like you. What's keeping you this morning, hm?" Her tone is lilting, even jovial, but there's something in it that hurts. Like salt on the rim of a glass, when you're expecting sugar.

Uzumaki Naruto turns to look at his journal, then turns back to his friend.

"Nothing much," he says idly. "I guess I just wanted to know what it feels like to sleep in."

Sakura laughs, says, "About time!" and he doesn't have to admit to her that he hasn't slept in seventy-six hours.

* * *

**.**

* * *

"All I'm saying," the black-haired boy says, "is that I don't believe anything _you're_ saying." His voice is sardonic, irritated, and painful to hear. "This all sounds like propaganda to me."

Uzumaki Naruto stands at the head of the room, arms crossed over his chest, and he glances over at the class's instructor as if for permission. Umino Iruka nods and gestures dismissively. Uzumaki Naruto rolls his shoulders and says, "I'm going to give you a demonstration." He stands idle for a moment, uncrossing his arms and slipping them behind his back. Then he adds, "Want to see it again?"

Everyone laughs, except for the young Uchiha. Sasuke, looking painfully young, scowls. "Do you think you're funny or something?"

Uzumaki Naruto removes his arms from behind his back and reveals a thin necklace with the Uchiha crest hanging from it. He spins it around, and Sasuke grasps at his throat. Uzumaki Naruto smirks.

"I happen to think I'm hilarious, but that isn't the point. The point is, you can't trust your senses when it comes to confronting another shinobi. _Particularly _your sight. It doesn't work, no matter how powerful your eyes are, or might become." He gestures grandly. "You all should know that I'm not particularly good at this. Don't get me wrong, I've passed all the exams, but there's a reason your Hokage has the nickname 'Yellow Flash.' He's faster than me. Faster than anyone."

Uzumaki Naruto holds up his hand and dangles the necklace between two fingers. It sways, twinkles, and vanishes. Little Sasuke reaches around his throat again, and finds it there, waiting for his touch like always.

Namikaze Naruto laughs out loud. "Awesome! Do me next! Do me!" The blond boy's head smacks with a heavy _clunk _onto his desk, and Uzumaki Naruto is smirking at him.

Namikaze Naruto laughs even louder.

"Namikaze Minato is a special sort of man," Uzumaki Naruto says, with all the grandeur of a priest—or a cult leader. "You all who're sitting here, maybe you went into this because your parents did." He glances at Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru; so much younger than he remembers them. "Maybe you're here because it's a family obligation." He glances at Hinata and feels a piece of his heart break. "Maybe you're here for some other reason."

Back to Sasuke.

"But whatever the reason, you probably have an idea in your head of what being a ninja means. Maybe you think it's being a soldier to protect your loved ones, or maybe you think it's being a weapon to kill whomever the highest bidder tells you to kill. Maybe you think you need to be a tool at the disposal of the Hokage. Whatever it is that you think you need to be, think about this: the Hokage is a ninja too. He was, one day, sitting here, at your end of the desk. One of you might be sitting in the exact same desk that he used."

Uzumaki Naruto isn't a polished speaker. He doesn't give the sorts of lectures that he remembers Iruka giving, or even the lectures that Jiraiya used to deliver. He just sort of talks, and hopes it sounds poignant enough. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This time, it seems to be working.

"My point is that one of you might have dreams of following in his footsteps. Of having your face up on that mountain next to his. To do that, you have to be special. A special kind of special. That's why I've been telling you about your Hokage today. So that you can understand what kind of special he is. I'm not talking about combat skills. You might not believe me now, but looking around at this class, I can pick out a good number of you who will be just as skilled at combat as he is." Again, he sweeps his gaze over Ino, and Chouji, and Shikamaru and Hinata, and stops at Sasuke. "That's not the special part that it takes to be Hokage. I learned that the hard way."

A pause.

"…To be Hokage, and to be a leader, you have to be scared."

He glances at the clock on the wall, then over at the door. Uzumaki Naruto gestures grandly.

"I invited someone here today, to help me explain to you what that means. I'd like everybody here to give a good and hearty welcome to Uchiha Obito."

* * *

**.**

* * *

"Every time I look at him, I think about what you've told me, and I can't wrap my mind around it."

Uzumaki Naruto slurps up a mouthful of noodles that would normally fill an entire bowl, and when he's finally able to speak again, he says, "Try living it. The first headband I ever wore…in fact, actually…" He reaches up and removes the headband covering his forehead and taps at the plate bearing the crest of the Hidden Leaf. "This plate, here?" Then he reaches over and taps the plate on Iruka's headband. "That one. Shit you not, Sensei. The first headband I ever wore was yours. Eventually I had to replace the cloth, but…I kept the plate."

Iruka smirks. "And to think, you were the one who convinced me to enter the academy. You're the reason I'm a ninja. You know that, right?"

Uzumaki Naruto smirks back. "Right back atcha. That's always been the hardest thing for me to wrap _my _head around. I keep seeing all these things happen, things that are so different from what I was taught and what I remember, and yet…" Here he looks slightly crestfallen, and it takes a visible effort to put a smile back on his face, "…other things keep happening exactly like they were supposed to."

"You're thinking of the Uchiha…incident, aren't you?" Iruka asks.

"Incident," Uzumaki Naruto spits out, then shakes his head. "Sensei, back where I'm from, it's called the Uchiha _Massacre. _I know you folks are convinced that Orochimaru had a hand in it, but do you know who was responsible for it back home?"

Iruka frowns. "…Who?"

"Uchiha goddamn Itachi."

Iruka, who had reached over to wet the sudden dryness in his mouth, chokes on an ice cube and slams his glass of water onto the wood counter. _"Itachi?!"_

Uzumaki Naruto nods. "Yeah. Nobody else understood it, either. I think Jiraiya had inklings, and I think I'm starting to get it, too…" He doesn't bother saying that he knows _exactly _what happened, but it must show in his eyes because Iruka gives him a strange look. "Anyway, whatever reason he had for it, it's a foregone conclusion. He defected from Konoha and became one of the most notorious missing-nin in our village's history. Probably he's second only to Orochimaru."

Iruka frowns, stares down at his meal, and finally says, "…This is one of the first times I've ever heard you tell me something that made me think you've been making all of this up. I think if Hokage-sama didn't believe you so fervently, I'd seriously consider it."

Uzumaki Naruto chuckles. "I don't blame you. Sometimes I wonder if I'm _not _dreaming all this up."

* * *

**.**

* * *

When Uzumaki Naruto returns to his apartment, the same one he has always lived in ever since childhood, he finds Sakura waiting for him. He's surprised to see her. She usually only shows up in the village long enough to share a meal with him, before she's off again to God knows where, trying to find her master.

Tsunade is nowhere to be found in this version of Naruto's memories, and it weighs heavily on his heart. Privately he wonders if this proud, frightened young woman in front of him isn't already stronger than the proud, frightening older woman she idolizes. But he never says it, because he knows it would only hurt her. He is in no place to criticize chasing headlong after dreams.

"Sakura," Naruto whispers. He's long since dropped the "-chan" business. He doubts that his feelings for her will ever die off completely, but it doesn't matter anymore. She knows how he feels, and it rings truer with just her name than any honorific could hope for.

"Hey." She smiles, and it's a heartbroken little thing. "I listened to your lecture. I was sitting out under one of the windows. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were getting good at that. Have you ever thought of being a teacher? Taking on a squad of genin? Showing them the way it's done?"

Naruto shrugs. "It's crossed my mind. But you know me. I've never been good with kids."

Sakura actually snorts with laughter; it's the first honestly pleasant sound he's heard from her in years. "Uzumaki Naruto, you're good with _everyone! _You've got a golden touch, just like your father. You could talk sense into an earthquake."

"Maybe. I guess it might be nice. Uzumaki-sensei. Has a decent ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Yes. It does."

Naruto steps over to sit beside Sakura on the couch she sometimes sleeps on. She slips up closer to him and leans her head against his shoulder; the intimacy would have once caused fireworks to explode behind his eyes, but he knows there's nothing romantic behind it. They're too far gone for that. He just shifts his weight and puts an arm around her; it's a sibling's comfort, more than anything, and he's almost surprised that he's so okay with it.

"Naruto?" Sakura says, after a few minutes go by in silence.

"Mm?" Naruto replies, an inquisitive grunt that's felt more than heard.

"I know—I know you don't like to talk about it, and that you think I'd be better off not knowing, but I have to. You know the question I'm about to ask. Will you answer me this time? Please?"

Something clicks in Naruto's mind, and he realizes something…strange. Something so glaringly specific that it feels almost like prophecy, and he sighs in sudden relief. It's like he's been putting together a jigsaw puzzle all these years, and a piece has been missing, and he's finally found it hiding under his desk squirreled away in a sock.

So this time, when he hasn't ever before, Uzumaki Naruto says, without the usual grim caste to his face, "…Yes, Sakura. I'll answer this time, if you ask me."

She pushes up away from him, to sit up straight and stare into his summer-sky eyes.

"N-Naruto." She stops, tries to catch her breath, and then just throws it out, too fast for her brain to hesitate. "How did _our_ Sasuke die?"


	30. What it Takes

_**This is, by far, the longest chapter I've ever written for this story. With good reason. We're at the end of the line, folks. This is it.**_

_**A note about how this chapter is constructed: anything written in the present tense should be considered as happening "now," by which I mean when Naruto and Sakura are older. Anything written in the past tense should be considered as happening in the past. Anything written all in italics is a part of Naruto's journal.**_

_**I won't bother you with extensive blathering here. We'll save that for afterwards, shall we?**_

_**Let's get down to it.**_

* * *

**.**

* * *

Instead of answering with words, Naruto pulls himself to his feet. Sakura pulls after him like she thinks he's going to walk off again without saying anything. "Naruto!" she calls out, desperately. "You—you just _said _that you would…!"

"I know," Naruto says, gesturing for his oldest friend to stay where she is. "I will. But not out loud. I can't…I can't say it out loud." And with that, he makes his way to his tiny little bedroom, where he keeps his desk; which is where he keeps the little journal that he's been writing in. He picks it up like it's a book of scripture passed down in his family and meant for only a chosen few to even know about, much less read, and heads back out to Sakura, who's turned around and looking over the couch for him.

He sits back down, with a person's distance in between them, like he's waiting for someone else to sit down, and hands her the book. "It's in here. Everything I know. Everything I've been able to figure out. Some of it I learned from Jiraiya, some of it from my father. Some of it's just theories I've slung together when I can't sleep."

Sakura takes the journal like _she _thinks it's a holy artifact, too, and sets it into her lap. She looks up at him. "This is your private journal, isn't it? Are you sure…?"

Naruto shrugs and makes a dismissive flip of one hand. "There's nothing in there that you don't know already. Know how I've said sometimes I'm an open book? Still am. But if you don't mind, I'm gonna head out and do some stuff on my own while you read that. I don't mind you reading it, but I don't wanna just sit here twiddling my thumbs while you do it. I'll be back later tonight, if you have any questions. I can't guarantee I'll have answers for _those, _but…well. You know."

He stands up, and leaves the apartment.

Sakura waits until he shuts the door behind him before lifting up the cover of the book in her hands.

* * *

**.**

* * *

_I've never been much of a writer. Hell, I've never been much of a thinker._

_But I feel like if I don't figure out what I think about the crap that's been going down around me for the past couple years, if I don't write it down and put it in some kind of order, then I'll never be able to sleep again. I'm having enough trouble sleeping as it is, and I don't need any extra baggage. If anybody reads this, it'll be Haruno Sakura. If you aren't Haruno Sakura, then you'd damn well better be important. If you're neither of these things, and you plucked this off my dead body or something, well, whatever. I guess that doesn't matter, either. I would lay an eternal curse on your head or something, but I'm too tired._

_Anyway, if you __**are **__Sakura, then I'm sorry about what you're going to read in here. It's not going to be pretty, and it's not going to do any good. I hope I fought tooth and nail to keep this information away from you. I swore to myself, pretty much the first day I heard Kakashi say "I won't ever let one of my comrades die" that I would protect you. Even if you never acknowledged how much I care about you, I swore I'd show you by keeping danger away from you._

_The information in here is dangerous. So I'm sorry._

_But here we go._

* * *

**.**

* * *

"All I'm saying, kid, is I wouldn't trust their word. They gave in way too easy."

"Sensei, give them a _bit _of credit, won't you? The Uchiha are one of our oldest and most prestigious clans. We can't just dismiss their integrity out of hand. They're some of our most talented shinobi."

"Precisely! What's the first thing a talented shinobi learns how to do? _Lie! _Lying isn't done just with words. It's done best with smiles, and bows, and grave promises, and pretty much everything I saw them do out there while you talked out your ass about unity and devotion and protection!"

It had been long enough that Naruto considered Namikaze Minato a mentor, the same as Iruka or Jiraiya or Kakashi, and he realized as he listened to the two of them argue just how surreal it was. One of the things he'd noticed over the course of his training was that he tended to gravitate toward rather carefree ninja. At least, they seemed that way. Naruto had more than enough reason to question just how honest Jiraiya's smiling, perverted clown act was; he probably used it as a cover-up, so that people didn't suspect him of being intelligent in any way.

Having used that same strategy himself on any number of occasions, Naruto thought of himself as something of an expert on it.

And Kakashi? Well, Kakashi was six kinds of crazy on his best days, and who knew with him? Seeing what he'd been like when he was younger, it was difficult to reconcile; which meant that the smiling and the chuckling and the irresponsible tardiness pretty much had to be an act.

It was easy to fake being happy. It was next to impossible to fake being sad.

Again, Naruto thought of himself as an expert in that category.

The whole point of it was, watching Jiraiya and Minato argue with each other—a serious argument, not just halfcocked banter—was one of the strangest experiences Naruto had ever had; he didn't know whose side to be on.

His teacher's…or his father's.

So he just listened, and absorbed, the way nobody thought he was capable of doing.

"I'm not going to pretend that it didn't go a lot easier than I expected," Minato said, "and I'm not naïve enough to not be suspicious of any battle won without _some _sort of haggling or bartering going on. But would it kill you to be optimistic for once?"

"Probably," Jiraiya snapped back, and the way he said it told Naruto—and thus Minato—that he meant it. Naruto had never thought of the old sage as a pessimist, but he _was _a warrior, and he'd been in his fair share of skirmishes that ended as graveyards. It seemed like Naruto himself was the only ninja in Konoha's history to actually get away with thinking the best of people.

Statistically, he should have been dead about seventeen times by now.

Minato surely knew what Jiraiya meant, but by the look on his face he wasn't interested in hearing it. He rolled his eyes and turned his back on his old teacher. "…A leader can't afford to be cynical, Sensei, and you know that better than any of us. Maybe advisors and councilors can, but not the one on top. A Hokage can be nothing less than an idealist."

"_Be _an idealist!" Jiraiya snapped. "Please, for the love of God, be an idealist! But don't pretend the Uchiha problem's been solved, because it hasn't. You must have seen the way they looked at you. They think you're a pushover. They think you're a child. Until the day they _actually _see that damned hat on your head, they won't listen to a word you say."

Minato growled, grumbled, but eventually it was obvious that he didn't have an answer.

* * *

**.**

* * *

_The old man was right. The Uchiha problem wasn't solved. That's how the story goes, because that's how politics work, but it's not the truth. The truth is, the best my father did by talking to the Uchiha about their "concerns" was delay the inevitable._

_The Uchiha weren't concerned with the well-being of Konoha. Not really. They were concerned with their standing __**in **__Konoha, which is a fancy way of saying they wanted more power than they were being given, which is a fancy way of saying they wanted the local government to leave them the hell alone._

_Jiraiya never really said much of anything to me about his theories on the Uchiha Incident. But from what I picked up, I think he was suspicious. He thought that the truth was a bit more nefarious than "a rogue member of the clan went batshit and murdered them."_

_Jiraiya thought that that rogue member was __**ordered**__ to murder his clansmen. The Uchiha were valuable, or actually the sharingan was valuable, but better they end up purged than an enemy. If you think about the way it went in our time—Sakura, I'm talking to you—it makes sense. Itachi was ANBU, remember? Who better to be a double agent than a double agent? Jiraiya said the first thing a good ninja learns to do is lie, and Itachi was a damn good liar._

_But then things are different now, aren't they? Itachi wasn't responsible for the Uchiha Incident, was he? We stopped that from happening with our stupid loyalty. _

_Like I said, I don't know much about what happened, but here's my theory: thanks to our influence on Itachi when he was a little kid, the higher-ups didn't think Itachi would make a good candidate for such a delicate mission. Sure, Itachi's still a good ninja, still a loyal follower of the Hokage, but he's not an unquestioning one. We taught him to ask questions, to doubt. We taught him to be skeptical._

_So, imagine our Itachi. He gets an order from on high to infiltrate his own family, and to "act as necessary" if they get too uppity. You think he's gonna do it? I don't. I wouldn't, and I did my damnedest to teach that kid to think like I do. See, we thought we were preventing the whole massacre by making nice-nice with the kid, and maybe we did. But not for the reason we thought._

_We tainted Konoha's perfect little soldier._

_They needed someone else. They needed someone moldable. Someone conflicted, and violent. Someone that the clan trusted, but who didn't necessarily trust the clan._

_Sasuke, __**our **__Sasuke, was the closest they could get their hands on._

* * *

**.**

* * *

Sakura sets the journal down and stares up at the ceiling. She doesn't want to believe what she's reading. She wants to think that Sasuke was a great number of things, but he wasn't a traitor. He spent his entire life trying to seek honor for his family; why would he perpetuate the Uchiha Massacre, when that very event was the one that ruined his life?

What Naruto seems to be suggesting here is that…that…Sasuke replaced his brother, and slaughtered the entire Uchiha Clan on his own.

Except, this time it was different. This time, _three _members were left alive, instead of just one.

Little Sasuke, the boy named for his own older self; Itachi, the soldier tainted by compassion; and Obito.

In short, Sakura realizes as she finally thinks about the man she has idolized for so long, the only three members of the clan that _her _Sasuke ever trusted. Ever…liked.

"You know what they're planning. What they're…going to do."

Uchiha Sasuke would never have been mistaken for a trusting man. He was, in fact, one of the most thoroughly pessimistic men that the Hidden Leaf had ever managed to create. He didn't trust his friends, nor his teachers, nor even himself. And he certainly didn't trust the man speaking to him right now.

"Get to the point."

"The point, Sasuke, is that maybe your self-loathing runs deeper than you think. Maybe you hate the blood in your veins. The crimson in your eyes. Maybe you hate the fire that you so masterfully handle. Maybe…you hate the Uchiha, for being so weak."

"You like to think you're mysterious and prophetic," Sasuke growled. "It doesn't work on me."

"Come now, Sasuke. Give me _some_ credit, won't you? Think about it. I've seen the way you look at that boy. The one called Itachi, the prodigy. Your…elder. Is he not? I think he is. Jiraiya told me about the little trick he pulled to get all of you here. Time travel. But you know, time has a way of fixing itself. I should know. I've studied it for a long time."

For as long as he lived, Uchiha Sasuke would never be able to force the image of Orochimaru out of his nightmares. When the serpent sage himself made manifest in front of him, Sasuke was the precise opposite of surprised. The man-turned-creature looked…younger. But at the same time he didn't. Orochimaru was timeless, like the shadows at the edge of his sanity, and that white-tinged face would never look natural.

Orochimaru gestured grandly around himself; like his former teammate, the man was nothing if not theatrical. He said, silkily, "Do you know, I have even talked to myself? I know that I don't make the most straightforward company, from personal experience. But that is neither here nor there, nor now nor then. Just think about the sentiment for a while, won't you? Think about it honestly."

"…You want me to ask myself if I hate my family."

"I do. Very much so."

"I'm not interested. I didn't come here to play word games."

"Fine. Let _me _do the thinking, then. I've spoken to Jiraiya, to myself—and wasn't _that _a special kind of tea party—and even to your teacher, about you. I've learned about your history. Think about how your family treated you. Or, rather, how they _didn't _treat you. Were you not just the proverbial second fiddle? A potential replacement, just in case Itachi didn't turn out quite right? They placed their bets on _him. _And why wouldn't they? You, too, looked up to him. Idolized him. Hoped to one day be good enough to lick his boots."

Sasuke's mind wrestled, but he wasn't able to come up with any argument to this. He knew the way of men like this; they started with the truth, then slipped ever so seductively into lines of thinking they _wanted _their victims to travel.

The rogue Uchiha kept his lips closed, and chewed on his thoughts, while he waited.

"Cast off to the academy with barely enough private tutelage to count as an afterthought. Certainly you were more advanced than your—ahem—peers, but did they ever give you the kind of attention that they gave to your most esteemed elder?"

"The Uchiha are an ancient family," Sasuke rumbled. "Placing your most important resources on the firstborn son is ingrained."

"And who _but _that firstborn son ever had the common decency to at least pretend otherwise?"

"Itachi could afford to be gracious. He already had what he wanted."

"Did he? Come now, Sasuke, don't be so obstinate. You know what I mean to say. There was never a single member of your family who even _acted _like they wanted you. Except perhaps your mother, but when did she ever fight for you? When did she ever call your father to task for his favoritism? Words are hollow without acts to fill them. What loyalty do you honestly owe to them? What did they do for you to foster such an emotion? Why would you force yourself into such a desperate state, for _their _memory? Are your feelings so unconditional that you would lie to yourself? The living deify the dead. Strip them of their wrongs, as though simply by virtue of not breathing they are worthy of special consideration."

"He betrayed me."

"He let you live."

"Is that supposed to be a _favor?"_

"More of one than he offered anyone else that night. Why is that, I wonder?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Sasuke, you are the most talented Uchiha since Itachi, and you obviously believe yourself to have more potential than he, else you wouldn't be spending so much time and energy exhausting yourself to defeat him. Quite obviously, no other Uchiha was capable of that, as they are dead. You have faced him multiple times and lived, have you not?"

"He was playing with me."

Why was he responding to this? Why was he opening his mouth and speaking to this madman? What good was it to know you are being manipulated, if you allow yourself to _be _manipulated? This verbal fencing was doing no one any good.

"Semantics. You faced him and lived. By default, that puts you above the rest of your family. _That _is what you hate. You hate that your father, and your mother, and your aunts and uncles, and your cousins, who always thought of you as being beneath them; you hate that they died, while you lived. This isn't survivor's guilt for you. It's disgust, that the greatest clan in Konoha could not muster enough strength to fight back against _one _of their own."

"No. That's the opposite of the truth. You've managed to ascertain my motives roughly as well as I've managed to ascertain yours."

And yet…

Some part of him doubted.

* * *

**.**

* * *

_I dunno how it is that they got to Sasuke, or even who __**they **__are, but I'm guessing it had something to do with the fact that he's an arrogant fuck. I love the man like a brother. He's the closest thing __**to **__a brother that I've ever had here in Konoha. But he's an arrogant fuck. I watched how he talked to other members of the Uchiha Clan, as time went by. I know you—Sakura again—were more concerned with Itachi, and I don't blame you. We still thought he was the key to everything. But I watched Sasuke, and how angry he got with them as time went on. _

_The thing is, you never paid too much attention to Sasuke. I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous, but hear me out on this one. What I mean is you didn't dig that much. You liked him. Probably you still like him. Love him. Admire him. The thing is, when you like somebody, and especially when you love and admire somebody, you don't pay too much attention to the darker parts of them. Especially when you're talking about a pretty dark person to start with. You start making excuses for them in your own head, rationalizing away the bad shit they do because you don't want to betray them, even in private._

_But I always looked at Sasuke as a rival first, friend second. It didn't take me long to start seeing signs of some messed-up shit in that guy's head. He always had issues, and who could blame him? His whole family got killed, and he was the only survivor. Him and the guilty party. What kind of damage does that do to a guy? Especially a freaking ninja?_

_But what's he gonna do, here in the past? Hate a little kid? A little kid who looks up to him and calls him Uncle Sasuke? A little kid who listens when he talks and trains the way he says to train? You can't do that. You can't hate someone who treats you like that. It just don't work. Especially since Sasuke always loved his brother more than anyone else, even __**after **__the massacre. That's why he never could love anybody else. He still loved his brother, and the emotion never felt right again._

_The next best thing for Sasuke was to start blaming the victims. The sumbitches too weak to stand up for themselves, and fight for their own damn lives. You know how people talk about the stages of grief? And how one of 'em's anger? That's all Sasuke's ever had. Anger. Anger at himself for being too weak and trusting. Anger at his brother for being a backstabbing fuck. Anger at his family for abandoning him._

_When you're seriously pissed off, or grieving, or both, logic takes a back seat. It stopped mattering to Sasuke that the Uchiha left him because they were murdered in the dark. What mattered to him was that they left him. _

_That anger was all the upper echelon needed to get its hooks in._

* * *

**.**

* * *

"Hokage-sama. Please, forgive me. I'm sorry to disturb you so late. But…I wanted to ask you about something."

Sakura still doesn't know how to carry herself around this man; Namikaze Minato will always be a figure of legend to her, and even though he has been her leader for years now, and she has spent more time with him, face-to-face, than she ever did with Tsunade, she still can't banish a certain giddiness and a sense of…displacement when she speaks with him, like she is outside her own body, observing.

Minato is older than the man she met so many years ago, but in many ways he looks exactly the same. He is, perhaps, the most fundamentally pleasant man she has ever met—unless she counts his son.

Minato grins when he realizes who it is that has been knocking on his door, like she is a daughter that he hasn't seen in months. "Sakura. Glad to see you're back." He doesn't ask if she's had any luck, because he knows that if she had finally managed to track down Tsunade, that would have been the first thing she would tell him. He gestures, welcoming her inside. "Come in, come in."

Kushina is already sleeping, and Sakura is sure that little Naruto is, too. She doesn't have to ask why Minato is awake. Horrendous sleeping habits are such an ingrained part of being the Hokage, from what Sakura understands, that it's almost a prerequisite. She spies the man's private desk, set into one corner of the front room where she currently stands; it's scattered with scrolls and maps; if she had a more fanciful imagination she might wonder if he were hunting for treasure.

Little Naruto certainly seems convinced that this is the case.

Sakura lifts up the journal before sitting down. "I asked Naruto, _my _Naruto, about…about Sasuke. He gave me this. He's been writing about his theories in this journal, and he says in here that the near-eradication of the Uchiha wasn't an act of terrorism. He says all Orochimaru _might _have had to do with it was to coerce _Sasuke _into such a state that he would be willing to…to accept the order. He says that the Uchiha were killed on command. Do you know anything about this? Does this even sound…feasible?"

It never did any good to beat around the bush with delicate questions. Sakura has known this for a long time. Sasuke's single-minded determination and Naruto's open-minded ambitions have made for two of the most influential examples of brutal honesty that Sakura has ever had, and both have bled into her.

Minato stares at her for a long time; studying her face, probably. By the fact that he doesn't look surprised, or offended, or even angry, she knows that he _does _know _something. _This, more than anything, breaks her heart.

His silence is confirmation enough.

Minato eventually sighs, and says,

"…Have you ever heard of a man called Danzou?"

* * *

**.**

* * *

_I'm not going to pretend like I know who it is that finally flipped Sasuke. But I'm pretty sure all it took was one manipulative voice in his ear, and a misstep or two by the Uchiha._

_Let's be honest: the guy never was too interested in living a good life. It's almost like becoming an engine of vengeance was the only goal he had in him. Like, he didn't know what he wanted to do with himself until the massacre happened. It's the only thing that made him give a shit about his family. I hope I'm wrong about that, 'cuz by this point there's a little Sasuke running around acting all happy and friendly and whatnot, and I really don't want to see him go the same route as the Sasuke we know._

_Here's hoping that having a couple of older role models around will make the difference. Itachi and Obito are still there, and that counts for a lot, I think. Really, it wouldn't surprise me if the part that drove our Sasuke over the edge was living alone for so many years. You know he never moved out of the compound, right? He lived in the same house where his parents died. Probably it helped him focus on his task as an avenger, or whatever it is he used to call himself._

_I'm not saying I know for sure that Sasuke was responsible for the death of…well, most of the Uchiha. Hell, a good portion of me hopes I'm dead wrong and that it __**was **__Orochimaru. But considering the fact that Obito and Itachi were the only two members of the clan left alive, and they just so happen to be the only two members of the clan our Sasuke seemed to like…_

_I'm just saying it makes sense. Sad sense. Tragic, fucked up, thoroughly evil sense._

_But sense._

_We wanted to stop the Uchiha Massacre, but we didn't. We just…didn't. Jiraiya told me once that he was scared that this whole time travel enterprise was a genjutsu he cast on himself, and that meant that nothing he did would amount to anything because it wasn't real. Problem is, that doesn't explain __**us. **__I think the truth is a bit scarier than that. _

_I think we __**are **__in the past, but nothing we do has amounted to much of anything because time doesn't work like that. If someone like Jiraiya or one of us gets it into their stupid head to fix something in the past, time decides to tip the scales again. We stopped Itachi from being the instrument of the Uchiha Massacre, so time found a different solution. Maybe this is all too complicated and I don't know what I'm talking about, but it's the best idea I've got. _

_Which…I know. Isn't saying much. Still._

* * *

**.**

* * *

"But…none of that explains how he died!" Sakura insists, looking desperate for an answer that would let her sleep at night.

Minato smiles sadly at her. "When your Sasuke went rogue, we had to send someone to find him. Someone who knew him. Someone strong enough to kill him. My council said that I should send you and Naruto to do it. They said you would know best how to approach him. You worked with him for years. But…I couldn't do that. Instead…"

Something clicks in Sakura's eyes. "…Kakashi-sensei. He—he volunteered. Didn't he?"

Minato nods. "He did."

"And he didn't just…disappear. He didn't go off with Jiraiya-sama, or go looking for other members of his family, or any of the other rumors going around the village. Did he?"

Minato shakes his head. "He didn't."

"They…they killed each other."

Minato nods. "That's what I was told. When your commander didn't come back after the first month, I started sending people out to find an answer. It took a long time, a lot longer than I would have thought, but…the bodies were eventually found, near the place where it's rumored that Orochimaru is establishing his own village."

"The Hidden Sound," Sakura murmurs, haunted, to herself.

"What?" Minato asks.

"The Hidden Sound. That's what the village will be called."

Minato frowns, rubs his chin, and nods. "I see. That could prove very important. But…anyway. I didn't tell you or Naruto because I didn't want you to…well. I didn't want to think of you as adults, truth be told. I wanted to protect you. Then Naruto went and found out about Sasuke, and I got it into my head to hide Kakashi from you at all costs." He gestures randomly. "You see how well that turned out."

"Hokage-sama…in this journal, Naruto says he thinks time is correcting itself." Sakura lifts up the book in her hands. "He says that's why the Uchiha Massacre happened, even though we stopped Itachi from being involved. He says that's why our Kakashi-sensei…well, died. He says that's why our Jiraiya-sama disappeared. _He's _probably dead, too."

Minato frowns. "You might be right. I won't pretend I know about time manipulation, but I do know something like this would have to be forbidden, and that might well be one of the reasons."

"If that's true…you might die, too. And Kushina-sama. And…and Naruto, and me, and everyone else we've…everyone else we've saved."

Minato actually smiles. "We're shinobi. Dying is part of the job description."

Sakura growls incoherently. "But that means…! That means this was all…for nothing…"

Minato's smile fades, but only slightly.

He asks, slowly, "…Why?"

* * *

**.**

* * *

The darkness is smothering, but at the same time it's welcoming. Uzumaki Naruto isn't sure what it is that makes this contradiction work, but he does know that it makes him nervous. It also excites him, somehow. He's never been particularly good at understanding his own emotions, and that's made all the clearer by the fact that he can keep these conflicting emotions in the front of his mind without going crazy.

Sometimes it pays off to be dense.

"Sasuke tried to do this to me once. It didn't work for him, either."

The fact that he doesn't flinch when he hears Sakura's voice should be confusing, but it isn't. Naruto expected her to catch up eventually, if he's being completely honest with himself. He wanted her to catch up. Part of him is honestly relieved that she's here right now.

Part of him…isn't.

"What? Leave without saying goodbye?"

"Mm-hm. Where do you think you're going? Off to find a grave to die in? That isn't like you."

Naruto chuckles. "I'm used to facing insurmountable odds, Sakura. People say it's because of my father and me that we averted war. We're so strong, especially together, that nobody's been able to dream about crossing us for years now. But how am I supposed to fight against time?"

"The same way you fight against anything. One punch at a time."

He smiles. Somehow, he knew she would say something like that.

He says, "I'm sorry. I know you wanted to hear that he died with his honor intact. But he died with our commander's blood on his hands. And his own family's."

"Maybe. But he died as a shinobi, and that counts for a lot. He died fighting. You've never wanted to lose to him before. I seriously hope you aren't intending to, now."

"We don't _belong _here, Sakura. If I'm right about what's going on here, we'll be crushed. There's no fighting it this time. Sasuke tried to fight, and look where it landed him."

"So what? If our crime of trespassing in this time is punishable by death, that doesn't mean we have to walk to the gallows with our heads down."

Naruto's smile widens. "…I'm listening."

"I know what you're worried about. You don't want to be responsible for your parents' deaths. That's what you're worried about, isn't it? They died because of the fox. You're afraid that somehow, no matter what we do, the fox will kill them again. Only this time, _you'll _be the fox."

The smile vanishes, but Naruto turns to face his teammate, with listlessly neutral eyes.

Sakura pushes ahead: "You're stronger than that, Naruto! You're better than that! You'll find a way to control the demon inside you! I know you will! And even if you don't, it won't be _you! _I know you. Your father knows you, and your mother knows you. They know, _we _know, that you would never hurt them willingly."

"I used to think Sasuke would never hurt his family willingly. Look how that turned out."

"You're not Sasuke! You're—you're stronger than Sasuke!"

Naruto licks his lips.

"Am I?"

Sakura lunges forward and throws her arms around Naruto's waist. "Of course you are!" she all but screams. "Naruto, you big, dumb, marvelous idiot! Don't you know that? Can't you _see _that? You've never let anything stand in your way! Not fear, not anger, not grief! You grew up the same way Sasuke did, but all you've ever done is tried to help people! You saved Obito, you saved Itachi! You saved your parents! You took history by the throat and shook it until it did what you wanted! Are you really going to give up now?"

He doesn't have the heart to tell her the truth. He doesn't have the courage to tell her that yes. He's ready to give up. He's wanted to give up ever since the shinobi he called his brother died. A long time ago, in a time far ahead of where he stands right now, he once said to his mentor, _How can I become Hokage if I can't even save one friend?_

He still believes that.

And he couldn't save that friend. He couldn't save Sasuke from madness. He only drove Sasuke deeper into it. That failure has weighed on him so heavily that it isn't content to haunt his dreams; it walks with him all hours of the day, taunting him, nettling him, choking him.

But he can't say that. Not when she so obviously needs him to believe.

So he says, "…No. Of course not."

Sakura hugs him. _"That's _the Naruto I know."

"Maybe all I need is a new mission. Huh? Maybe Team Seven ought to go out and do something productive. What do you say? How about we go track down our teachers together?"

Sakura stares up at him for a moment. "…Tsunade-sama? And J-Jiraiya-sama?"

"Sure. There's never been any proof that _our _old pervert died, after all. He could still be out there, harassing barmaids. We might be the only ones who could possibly find him. And anyway, the old lady's gonna gamble her way straight into poverty if we don't bring her home, isn't she? Let's go save us some sages."

Sakura stares a while more, then she smiles.

"…Yeah. You're right. Let's do it."

Naruto smiles at the enthusiasm he can see lighting in her eyes.

He can only hope that one day, eventually, some of it might bleed back into him.

* * *

**.**

* * *

"It looks like Sakura enlisted the help of a certain blond-headed firecracker this time."

He stands, swathed in black at the memorial, smiling down at the list of names. One in particular, "Hatake Kimura," stands radiant in his vision and makes it difficult to breathe. But he smiles, and glances at his companion.

"So, Naruto-sama is off on a mission again. Good."

"Yeah. He was gettin' kinda stir-crazy. Always locked up at home. Who knows what he was doing in there all that time. Guy needed some fresh air."

A third figure comes up to them, with slate-grey hair and piercing black eyes. "You'll be late on your first day as a commander. Get going."

He glances over at Kakashi and his smile falters for just a moment before fixing itself on his face again. "I suppose you're right."

Kakashi looks at the other one. "Obito. Come on. We have to find Rin, and report to the Fourth."

"Ain't you heard him?" Obito intones, crossing his arms and looking strangely like his own mother—a thought that wrests his heart from his chest and threatens to strangle it. "He keeps tellin' you to call him Minato-sensei, same as always. He'd _like _you to just call him Minato, but you've got God knows what stuck up your ass, so—"

"Let's…just _go."_

He smiles as the pair vanish into thin air, takes one look back at the memorial, salutes, and begins to saunter his way out to the training grounds. He'd always wondered if he was cut out to train a squad of genin. It worries him, when he stops to think about it, that he's going to find out once and for all whether he is.

Today.

Now.

He walks as slowly as possible, running a hundred possible scenarios through his head. How is he going to do this? What is he going to say to them? How is he going to go about training them? He's taken the advice of an untold amount of fellow jounin, but none of them seem to fit right. This is a fresh squad, still aglow in the aftermath of their graduation. He doesn't want to be too harsh with them. But just the same, he doesn't want to make it a picnic for them, either.

He decides to do what the man he still calls Uncle Naruto would do.

Play it by ear.

He spies them, waiting for him, looking thoroughly exasperated. Namikaze Naruto, son of the Fourth Hokage, is balancing a knife on his nose. Uchiha Sasuke, traumatized but still strong, is staring off into the distance like a philosopher. Haruno Sakura, excited but nervous, is bouncing in place to work off excess energy.

He clears his throat, and his new students all look at him.

Sasuke's face brightens, and his lips curl into an unconscious little smile.

Naruto thrusts a finger in his general direction. "You're late, Uchiha-sensei!"

Sakura stares at the blond like he just insulted a foreign ambassador.

Uchiha Itachi chuckles and holds up a hand in greeting. "Apologies. I ran across an elderly woman who lost her cat up a tree."

* * *

**END.**

* * *

_**Perhaps the only thing about this chapter that looks anything like what I anticipated was the ending. The final scene, right up there, is the only thing I recognize from the outline I had in my head.**_

_**This story has gone in directions I never would have anticipated, and evoked things I never would have dreamed. Is it the way it should be? I don't know. Could it have been better? Most assuredly. Was it worth the six-and-a-half years that it took me to write it?**_

_**I certainly hope so.**_

_**As frustrating as the journey was sometimes, and as abruptly as it has ended, I love this story. There are plot holes, and missing threads, and logical fallacies, and clichés, and who knows what else. I love it anyway.**_

_**I hope that you love it, too. Whether you've been with me from the beginning, found me halfway down the road, or just found this story yesterday, I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to take you on this little sojourn.**_

_**If you had half as much fun reading this story, at any point, as I did while writing it, then I think we're pretty well off.**_

_**It's been a long, long road. But here we are.**_

_**Have a fantastic day. I hope to see you on the next trip, wherever it might take us.**_

_**Thank you again.**_

_**~ I.B.**_


End file.
